The Impostor
The Impostor by Elaine Fox
The Imposter in this novel is Flynn Patrick who has found himself thrust from the modern world into the year of 1815 where he is mistaken for the long-lost son of the Duke of Merestun.
Flynn Patrick has no idea who his natural parents were having been adopted when he was only a child. However since that was nearly 200 years in the future he is sure that he is not the long-lost heir.
Ashamed of his lack of parentage he has travelled to England for the wedding of an old friend. As he approaches Merestun Estate he begins to experience the strange sense of déjà vu. Hampered by his girlfriend who is beginning to be anxious for her own wedding he soon feels the need to escape the wedding festivities.
Wandering into the gardens he approaches an old fountain and with the typical elegance of a man who has had a few too many drinks he falls into the fountain. Terrified at the fountain appearing so much deeper than he first though Flynn fears that he is about to drown. Finding at last a footing he climbs out of the fountain and finds himself face to face with a whole new set of problems.
Finding himself in the year 1815 he has arrived in the past just in time to find himself crossing paths with a runaway bride.
Melisande St Claire was about to be married to a man she had only just met. She did not expect love in the match but neither did she expect that she would be pawed within moments of meeting him and forced to do no other than run away to her aunt in London.
Climbing out of the window she finds herself face to face with the prince she has dreamed about. But Flynn Patrick does not act like a prince and she soon realises that travelling with him to London will be the final ruin of her reputation. But throwing caution to the wind the two travellers decide to throw in their lot together and make their way to London with Melisande’s furious groom hot on their heels.
Making their way to London together Melisande and Flynn are obviously forced to live in close quarters. It is only natural that Melisande should start to see Flynn as the living embodiment of the prince of her dreams he resembles.
Flynn is sure that once they reach London he will be able to find a way to return to the future. It will also convince him once and for all whether he is in the past or merely lost in a remote area of the country. But long before they arrive in London Flynn realises that he is truly in the past and the fountain that brought him here is back at Merestun where Melisande’s groom is plotting schemes to win back his bride. More importantly he finds that he is very attracted to his travelling companion and staying in the past may not be such a bad thing after all.
When they finally arrive in London Melisande realises just how much damage she has done to not only her reputation but that of her sister too. Guided by her Aunt Felicity she finds herself with no option but to either be unaccepted by society for the rest of her life or marry Flynn Patrick.
Despite a rather spoilt and selfish heroine this is a fairly good time
travel novel with a nice little mystery woven into the storyline.
A little predictable but quite a good read nonetheless.
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