Wandering Wednesday: How a book made me want to see Corio Villa and giveaway

by Jenny Blake | @ausjenny

Today I am talking about Corio Villa which was the inspriation behind Cora Villa by Meredith Resce. Meredith shared how she would go past this house quite often on drives to church and one day was talking with her passenger and they brain stormed a story. One day she looked at the house and saw the name Cora Villa and thought it was a great name for her heroine. She found out the house was actually Corio Villa. While the book isn't about the house or the history of the house it is the inspiration. This book left me wanting to go and see this house and even asking friends who live in Geelong if they had seen the house.

My friend Danka Dear kindly took the three photos I am using of the house showing views from the road as its a private residence.

property of Danka Dear

Property of Danka Dear

Property of Danka Dear

Product Description:

It's all arranged: Marriage to a man she's never met.
Garrison Stewart is looking forward to the day when his daughter, Cora, will be wed to his former neighbour's son, just as had been arranged fifteen years ago.

But that arrangement had been made before Cora had grown up, before the Stewarts had immigrated to Australia,and before Cora had fallen in love with someone else.

Now, Cora is forced to choose between the love of her father and the love of a mysterious stranger...one who is all too secretive about his past...

My Review:

I finished this book and loved it. The inspiration for this story came from a house Corio Villa near Geelong. The house is the inspiration for the house in Cora Villa the rest is fiction. But after reading this book I want to see this house. The story revolves around Cora who was promised to Andrew Bennett when she was 6 years old. The book starts just after the death of her mother and her father determined she marry Andrew. Cora doesn't like the idea of an arranged marriage, she wants to choose her own husband and this is what she and her father clash about.

I loved the book and the different characters. Once again I would love to talk more about the story and some of the things that happen that I really enjoyed but I don't want to give away any of the storylines. Having said this there were areas of the book I really appreciated one in-particular as it took me back to my own childhood and something we use to do at Christian Endeavour. This book takes place early in the 19 century and if you enjoy historical books I am sure you will enjoy this story.

We are giving away one ecopy of this book to a someone who comments on either yesterday or today's posts. Leave a way to contact you and check back next week on the 18th to see if you are a winner.

JENNY BLAKE (aka Ausjenny) is an avid reader. When not reading she enjoys watching cricket, in fact you could call her a cricket fanatic, scrapbooking and jigsaws. Her health has means she isn't reading as much as she would like but she does what she can to promote books. Her book blog is where she reviews books and interview authors. Her goal is to help promote new books and encourage authors. Her blog is at http://ausjenny.blogspot.com, Twitter @ausjenny