Heart of Stone is set in and around Dublin beginning in 1730. This is the story of Mary Molesworth, a young woman whose step-mother is desperate to see married and off her hands. Mary marries Robert Rochford, a widowed heir to an earldom. She is both beautiful and naive and having been on the receiving end of Robert’s more charming side of his nature, marries him believing they are in love. Initially Mary is happy and looking forward to running her own home and enjoying a happy marriage with her new husband.
Unfortunately for her, Robert’s only reason for marrying Mary is his desperation for her to produce the heir he needs to ensure his younger and equally vile brother George’s children do not inherit the family title and estate. When Mary finally succeeds, Robert loses all interest in her and turns his attention away from Mary to his mistresses. However, as well as his younger brother George, Robert also has another brother, Arthur. Arthur is handsome and the opposite to his two cruel brothers. Arthur is also in love with Mary and as she discovers how much he means to her both their lives take a terrible turn.
This is John Jackson’s debut novel and is written in a different way to most of the books I usually read, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story. In fact, I found it refreshing and became absorbed by Mary and Arthur’s story very quickly. This book is based on John’s own ancestors and is obviously well researched. I love reading novels that not only entertain me but also teach me something. Robert is a vile man. He is violent, jealous and cruel both physically and emotionally and I was desperate for him to get his comeuppance. It was shocking how someone could take out his jealousy on his wife at that time and get away with it and how women were completely at the mercy of their husbands, especially those with wealth and power, like Robert. Mary’s step-mother was another callous character who I disliked intensely and so was George. Mary wasn’t the only one suffering in the story though thanks to the harsh winters and famine of the time, and the suffering that took place by those confined to life in a debtors prison.
I raced through the book enthralled by the building tension, Mary’s difficulties, Arthur’s love for her and my dislike for Robert (and George), right through to the satisfying ending.
Star Rating 8
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ABOUT JOHN JACKSONÂ 
Following a lifetime at sea, John Jackson has now retired and lives in York and has now turned his hand to writing fiction.
An avid genealogist, he found a rich vein of ancestors. They included Irish peers, country parsons, and army and navy officers. They opened up Canada and Australia and fought at Waterloo.
John is a keen member of the Romantic Novelists Association and graduated through their New Writers Scheme. He is also a member of the Historic Novel Society and an enthusiastic conference-goer for both. He describes himself as being “Brought up on Georgette Heyer from an early age, and, like many of my age devoured R L Stevenson, Jane Austen, Edgar Allen Poe and the like.”
His modern favorite authors include Bernard Cornwell, Simon Scarrow, Lindsey Davis, Liz Fenwick and Kate Mosse.
Facebook:Â https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=597036631
Twitter: @jjackson42
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17103004.John_Jackson?from_search=true
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john5642/
