Beauchamp Hall

AUTHOR: Danielle Steel PUBLISHER: Pan Macmillan RRP: $29.99

REVIEWER: Mary Ann Elliott

WINONA Farmington is stuck in a backwater town in Michigan, in a dead-end job and with a boyfriend who won’t commit.

She enlivens her dreary life by watching re-runs of her favourite TV show, Beauchamp Hall, an English period drama (shades of Downton Abbey?).

A strange discovery is the catalyst for her decision to travel to the picturesque English village where the series is being filmed, and chase adventure.

Signing up as an extra, and doing small assignments whenever she is asked, Winnie meets the cast.

Behind the showy spectacle and intrigue being played out on the set, there is even greater drama and scandal behind the scenes.

Spreading her wings and finding greener pastures, Winnie leads a fantasy life watching her beloved series being made, and works her way up to chief organiser for the cast.

Which of the romantic leads is the key to her future? Who can she trust and give her heart to?

As is usual with this writer, there’s a surprise ending.

Steels’s narrative is not as smooth or believable as some of her earlier stories, but still manages to hold the interest.