A wry and wistful second look at a real life "ever after." Belinda Rathbone (American, of Boston) meets and marries John Ochterlony, heir to the Guynd, an small but venerable estate in the Scottish lowlands that has been in his family for over four hundred years, the centerpiece of which is a (small for a mansion) elegant Georgian house, built in the early 1800's. The estate comes with several hundred acres, an ancient Dower House (the original manse), cottages, the official farmhouse and much more. As Belinda throws herself into restoration--taking on the task of sorting and chucking all the broken, useless items that the family has collected over the centuries, removing the brown lino that has covered all the floors since the house was requisitioned in the second world war, scraping, plastering, painting she comes up, again and again, against an immovable obstacle: her husband. There is great affection between the two and a lot of common sense and they have a child together that both adore. I won't spoil, it's neither a happy nor unhappy ending, not even an ending, but more the way life tends to be, nothing neatly tied up and good intentions everywhere. I loved it, loved the descriptions, loved Rathbone's honesty. Highly recommended. **** 1/2 ( )