The Founding (Morland Dynasty)

I discovered this series about one year ago and my local bookstore and after the first few chapters I was HOOKED. This series is so addicting to read. I am engrossed with every chapter and my curiosity and eagerness for the continuation of the story grows after I finish each book. I have been reading the series for the past year and I am now on book 24. I never want to put the books down. LOVE IT!

Having just finished the 31st book in this series and waiting patiently for 32 to be released in November, I can HIGHLY recommend these books to anyone how loves a good story and delights in reading for pure pleasure. How the author comes up with so many different plots and keeps the variety of characters fresh and interesting is amazing. Truly, start this series and you too won't be able to put them down!

Well-drawn characters that you can keep track of, although there are many of them. I love historical fiction, and am so happy this series was recommended to me by a friend. I will be continuing with the whole 30 books!

THE FOUNDING begins THE MORLAND DYNASTY series, which as of this writing consists of 29 titles. It opens during the Wars of the Roses with Henry VI at the helm and Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, struggling to gain power. Eleanor, a teen raised by the Beaufort's, leaves home to marry Robert Morland, a wealthy sheep farmer. The book covers the years 1434 to 1485; it ends shortly after what will come to be known as the Battle of Bosworth where Richard III dies. While the wars serve as a backdrop, the author weaves much of the history as we know it today into the story. The book also reveals a lot about the clothing industry during medieval times. The family's matriarch (Eleanor) takes it from a well-to-do sheep farm to wool merchandising to cloth manufacturing. After reading Sharon Kay Penman's THE SUNNE IN SPLENDOUR, I was skeptical about this book. I didn't think any other novelist could to the period justice. I was wrong. THE FOUNDING (originally published in 1980 before Penman's work) is a wonderful start to what should prove to be both an entertaining and educational series.

This is the first book in the Morland Dynasty series. It begins in 1434 with the marriage of Robert Morland, son of a Yorkshire woolmerchant, and Eleanor Courtney, a young Dorset maiden. It heralds the beginning of a great family. Under the craftful eye of Eleanor, the woolmerchant she maried soon becomes a very successful clothier. This series follows the Morland family from the War of the Roses to the present day. A MUST!

I like to read history novels. I learn about old times and at the same time I read about love and hate. Pia Klockljun