Remember When by Mary Balogh

Remember When by Mary Balogh is the fourth book in the Ravenswood series. I wasn’t sure about this story in the series and I gave the book a lower rating, albeit for other reasons.

This is the story of the Dowager Countess of Stratton, Clarissa Ware and Matthew Taylor. Clarissa is the mother of the main characters in the first three books in the series. I was unsure of how her marriage will be portrayed. There was a terrible scandal relating to her husband. This was a bit of brushed over in this book. I was expecting more substance.

Matthew Taylor was born a gentleman who was very close to Clarissa as children. He was a younger son, not expected to inherit. This made him unsuitable as a match for Clarissa. She married Caleb Ware, the Earl of Stratton, when she was 17. Matthew married another woman, but she died shortly after. He became estranged of his family and decided to become a carpenter, with a considerable artistic talent. Now Clarissa and Matthew are reunited and their friendship rekindles.

What I didn’t like about this story was the detachment from the historical accuracy. Balogh talks a lot about how many servants and that she is alone in her home, but there are servants and so on. Yes, there are servants, it was natural, and it is still natural for big homes. I don’t see the point. A stately home in the 1800s needed servants just like a hotel needs a lot of staff in 2025. I don’t know who is cleaning my room when I’m in a hotel. If I see them I smile and say hello, but I’m not bothered if I don’t see them. The same with the hotel’s restaurant, I only see the waiter, not the kitchen staff. If that’s perfectly normal, so it was in the 1800s. The servant thing was too much in the book.

There were other things as well. Balogh wants everybody to have healthy strong children and lots of them, which is making the stories less realistic. Yes, these are romance books and not tragedies, but the best ones by her, look at uncomfortable topics and deal with pain as well.

Remember When by Mary Balogh

Details about the picture: –
My rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: yes-ish
Published by: Piatkus
Year it was published: 2025
Format: Paperback
Genre(s): Regency
Pages: 369

About the author: Mary was born in Wales in 1944. After graduating from University in 1960s, she moved to Canada. There she was a high school teacher. She got married to the Canadian Robert Balogh and they had three children. Besides writing, she also loves music, knitting, watching tennis and curling.
Mary Balogh started writing as a hobby, in the evenings. Her first book, A Masked Deception, a Regency love story, was published in 1985. After 20 years of teaching, in 1988, she retired from teaching to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then. Her best known series are the New York Times bestselling ‘Slightly’ sextet and ‘Simply’ quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
Website & Social Media Links: marybalogh