God, this book seemed interminable! I can't blame the story or the writing or the research, all of which were up to Harrod-Eagles's normal, excellent standards. No, I blame *growl* Annunciata. I loathe that spoiled, narcissistic, self-indulged, self-centered, amoral, and thoroughly sybaritic bitch. She never grew, never changed, never left behind any of her selfish ways; was perfectly content, happy even, to leap from man to man, husband to husband, uncaring as to what vows, what laws of man or

#6 in the Moreland Dynasty series. This one, like the last (and apparently the next), revolves around Annunciata, a beautiful & selfish bitch. I guess one of the things I like about this series is that the characters are realistically flawed, but still I wish there was not so much focus on such an unlikeable character! ...I'm still looking forward to the next in the series.

This is the 6th book in the Morland Dynasty, and my favourite since the first. The political intrigue was simple enough for me to understand, and it is now moving into a period I've never previously studied. Keeps an interesting balance between the lives and loves of the Morlands themselves, the social history of the period, and the historical and political events of the time.

So glad there are 29 to go.

Do not read this review if you have not already read the previous book in this series!(view spoiler)[After several years of marriage to her cousin Ralph, Annunciata becomes disillusioned with life at Morland Court, and longs for the excitement of London and her friendships with the royal family. Both Annunciata and Ralph are saddened by the deaths of several of their young children. In addition, Annunciata tends to play favorites among the children from her previous marriages, preferring her sec...

Probably my least favourite so far because I find Annunciata SO ANNOYING. Is there anyone that woman won’t have an affair with? Her own step-son/son-in-law shows terrible judgment and the way the book tries to excuse it was difficult to read. On the other hand, yay for a female character being sexually free? I suppose the plot just wasn’t really for me.

Annunciata Morland is my least favourite of the Morland Heroines so far - She is shocking towards her children, She is disinterested and cold towards them. This novel is set when William of Orange invades England and it is a pretty gripping read however, I hope that in the next book there will be a heroine that I actually like!

Regarding the Kindle version: The story is good, but...But... the editing is atrocious. So distracting. And sometimes the reader has to stop and guess at what the mis-typed words are even supposed to mean. I've been reading the series, and the editing is progressively worse with each book.

Read August 2020

Very well written, but I despised the main character!!! (pretty sure I was meant to)

This 6th book in the Morland Dynasty series is the reason I abandoned the series back in the 80's after enjoying the first 200 years or so of the Morland family. I honestly wanted to slap Annunciata because she became so shallow and stupid in the book, and her children weren't much better. Over 20 years later, I found books 7-20 as a lot in an estate sale and bought them to give the series another try. I hated The Chevalier too; the story did not improve until book 8 The Maiden, but then it real...

Annunciata, ehemals Hofdame unter Charles II., ist als Ehefrau von Ralph, dem Herrn über den Familiensitz Morland Place, nach Yorkshire zurückgekehrt, vermisst aber schmerzlich das glanzvolle pralle Leben bei Hofe. Sie wünscht sich sehnlich, aus den Konventionen auszubrechen und sich nicht mehr nur um Haus und Hof sowie Kinder und Stiefkinder zu kümmern und geht zum Unverständnis vieler tatsächlich den Schritt zurück nach London, um wieder nahe am Puls der Zeit zu leben und alte Bande wieder auf...

The blurb for The Long Shadow is rather misleading. It talks about the reign of James II as though that forms the bulk of the book, when it's probably less than the final hundred pages. Which in a way is nice, as life for all the Morlands and their connections is better under Charles II than under his brother's four-year reign.I will say this book killed any liking I had left for Annunciata. Yet again there are few really likeable characters in this series: Hugo got on my nerves, and even Elizab...

SPOILER ALERT ******** I love the history in the Morland Dynasty series . This book disappoints simply because of the way Annunciata is drawn. She's depicted as being extremely self centred ,masterful & ambitious even by the standards of that particularly difficult period .And a truly atrocious mother! Every time she thinks she's found true love & every time finds some ridiculous reason to fall out of love (in this book).How does one fall in love with a man you helped raise as a child? One admir...

This book covers the Morland family during the end of Charles II's reign, and through the end of his brother James II's reign, ending with the Glorious Revolution. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the family, the characters, and the history unfolding around them. This book focuses on Annunciata, though, who is my least favorite Morland woman yet. She never really grows or develops as a person, and always seems to want to sleep with inappropriate men. I enjoyed it, though, and I'm looking forward

Not one of my favourites of this series - though in a way it's hard to separate out the individual books. This is the second book in which Annunciata plays a major role, and it's hard to sympathise with her when she treats her children so appallingly and appears to think only of her own pleasure. But at least she is interesting, and the series continues to intrigue me, and teach me a considerable amount about English history.

I enjoy this series, although like all series some books are stronger than other. This one, detailing Annunciata Moreland and her involvement in the courts of Charles II and James II is a weak entry, mostly due to the fact that Annunciata is petty, vain, and highly annoying. Also, the marriage and dating pool of the Morelands is insular, reaaaaaalllly insular.

Annunciata , Countess of Chelmsford, is now wealthy and well connected and a close friend of King Charles II. But jealousy among her children and Annunciata's constant search for love bring chaos as rebellion and hatred of James II flood England, bring siege warfare to Morland Place. More romance - sometimes annoying - and less history than in other volume,s but still gripping reading.

Terrible typos!!!! how dare Amazon sell this book for over $10.00 it has typos on every page!!! !! I'm going to try the next in the series and if it's as bad I will stop buying them from you!

Tired of reading about Annunciata. Looks like the next book isn't focused so much on her though, thank god.

If you don't like Annunciata you might struggle with this book, and there is a lot not to like about her!Onto the next book in the series.

Entertaining. I am beginning to really like the interplay between family members. This is really a historical fiction soap opera.