Cast the First Stone: A captivating Yorkshire saga of friendship and family secrets (Yorkshire Sagas Book 1)

The novel opens in 1965 at a “Jacob’s Join” in a church in Aberthwaite, Yorkshire. The party is to welcome home the recently married 44-year-old rector, Reverend Simon Norwood and his 30-year-old wife, Fiona Dalton. While preparing for the pot luck supper, some of the ladies’ comments such as “Off with the old and on with the new” and “Marry in haste and repent at leisure” can be overheard. They are concerned about the recently widowed rector’s decision to remarry a younger woman whom they know little about.Fiona and Simon had met at the local library, where she is the newly appointed chief librarian; she had moved from Leeds. Following a brief courtship, Simon proposes marriage and Fiona accepts, despite her forebodings at withholding from him a grim secret from her past.In chapter five, we are taken back to 1934, to Fiona’s birth and her teenage years in Leeds. Her school trip in 1951 with her friends to London is covered at some length. In chapter eighteen, we learn of Simon’s backstory, particularly his days during WWII as an RAF navigator. He harbours secrets of his own and is therefore not concerned about Fiona’s past.Fiona and Simon continue to lead a blissful life. Fiona gains acceptance into the community. She organises a new women’s group that includes unmarried ladies, despite some minor criticism from the old guard.Readers will need to be patient while reading this novel, for the major conflict does not develop until much later. It is Thornton’s writing style and the narration of the lives of ordinary people and family issues, such as teenage pregnancy, somewhat like in Catherine Cookson’s novels, which make us care for the characters. One can almost hear the Yorkshire-accented dialogue. The desire to know what happens to the protagonists propels us towards the ending. Recommended.This review first appeared in the Historical Novel Review Issue 63 (Feb 2013)Waheed Rabbani is a historical fiction novelist whose books are available on Amazon.

I like Christian authors. This book is a lesson to always look at yourself first and not to make judgments.

Super slow and boring! You can skip through ten pages at a time and not miss anything. Way too much fluff. It is like the author had a page requirement.

Rambling, doesn't really get anywhere. Not really a story line. It was a slog to get through it.

This is a brilliant book and it it so hard to stop reading it and to put it down. I decided to download this book, the first in a serious of three, because I bought the third book in this series & naturally you have to read them in order to get a gist of all the characters and the story leading up to the final book. Margaret Thornton is a very good author, with the storyline being captivating and holding the reader captive

Enjoyed this book

For my 2nd digital reading experience, this one did not disappoint.I would really love to say more but I'm not a fan of giving spoilers and would rather let the reader discover this gem. I will say is that it takes you back to perhaps a much simpler time. Cracking read!

Goid read

Margaret Thornton is a great Author I've enjoyed many of her books. I Highly recommend if you like stories from 1950,s or 60,s.