Kindle Unlimited
Unlimited reading. Over 4 million titles. Learn more
Read for Free
OR
Kindle Price: $3.99

Save $10.96 (73%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Nicholas Bundock
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Hillgate Hall: Revenge of a Country Girl (Cupid in the Country Series Book 2) Kindle Edition

by Nicholas Bundock (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 33 ratings
See all formats and editions
Phoebe Burns is broke and broken.
After a failed marriage she needs to regain mental strength.
And she needs money - fast.
Failure would mean losing custody of her son.
A return to teaching promises security.
But Hillgate Hall School evokes her painful past, and draws her into its own darkness.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Book 2 of 2
    Cupid in the Country Series
  2. Print length
    254 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    September 29, 2019
  6. File size
    4411 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
All 2 for you in this series See full series
See included books
Total Price: $7.98
By clicking on above button, you agree to the Kindle Store Terms of Use

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nicholas Bundock was born in London. He has spent most of his life in Norfolk where he works as a consultant valuer of antiques.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07YLC291P
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amsterdam Publishers (September 29, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 29, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4411 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 254 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 33 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Nicholas Bundock

Nicholas Bundock

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Nicholas Bundock was born in Paddington, London. He has spent most of his life in Norfolk where he works as a consultant valuer of antiques. THE MIRROR SHOP is his first novel.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
33 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Book fanatic
5.0 out of 5 stars An intriguing and compelling read
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
Initially I found Phoebe a sad yet interesting character and her growth and development throughout the book was wonderful. Her daily struggle with her ex and his bombshell girlfriend were so realistically written, and so very easy to read.

Battling for money with a part time antiques business, Phoebe is offered a teaching position at Hillgate Hall. Her experiences of the school, staff, and General day to day life is exceptionally well written, and compelling reading. Her experiences at Hillgate force her to confront many demons from her past, and deal with newer ones.

Her journey from weak, beaten and timid, to strong, determined and with utter clarity towards her future, will keep you reading way past the witching hour. An excellent read, well written and with characters that are very real. I intend to read more from this author!
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
DD Gott - Donadees Corner
5.0 out of 5 stars Being divorced does not mean the world has to stop, just a new beginning, right or wrong!
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2021
Nicholas Bundock – Hillgate Hall – Reviewed 6/29/21 – Read 6/26-27/21

Phoebe Burns's world came to a stop when she realized that her husband had cheated on her. Worst of all the woman is younger and arrogant, she thinks the world revolves around her and that she has it all under her control. Well, Phoebe realizes she does have one thing under control, and that is her husband or rather a soon-to-be ex-husband. Phoebe now has turned to her best friend Molly to help her get through this, thankfully, Molly’s son is best friends with James, her son.

At present, Phoebe’s biggest problem is money. When Anthoney and her got married, she had not completed her schooling for her degree, so she is unable to apply for a state teacher’s position, and her business in antiques is just not keeping up with the bills. She got the house, but she also got the mortgage and Anthoney is not helping with that. When Molly tells her about a position that has become available at Hillgate Hall, Phoebe thinks that it is an answer from above. She could never know at this point how wrong she could have been.

Join Phoebe as she struggles to cope with the divorce, her new job, and her feelings about the past…

What did I like? Having been divorced, with small children, this book reached out and related to me. Well, maybe not all of it, only the money, divorce, and children. The rest of the book hit a nerve regarding the struggles that Phoebe goes through emotionally. I think for all women, divorce is a wake-up call to yourself. What am I, who am I, why me, type of questions will besiege them! Of course, the rest of the storyline is something that I am glad that I never had to live through but sure makes for great reading.

What will you like? Wow, there are a ton of things happening in this book, divorce, children, gardening, antiques, teaching, and the list goes on into some certainly dark psychological issues. The mystery surrounding all of these will capture you and draw the reader into the darker side of the storyline. The character of Phoebe is incredible, she is emotional, in addition to strong, tender, and loving, yet fragile, but most of all she is a woman scorned! She battles the past with courage and strength, but yet she finds it within herself a strength that she never knew she possessed. An amazing read that will take you up and down in Phoebe’s world, then to an incredible ending. Nicholas Burdock’s book two in the Cupid in the Country series, “Hillgate Hall: Revenge of a Country Girl” is available now.

• ASIN: B07YLC291P
• Publisher: Amsterdam Publishers
• Publication Date: 9/29/2019
• File Size: 4411 KB
• Print Length: 254 pages
• Genre: Contemporary British Fiction, Psychological Literary Fiction, British Literature
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Genesis Celis
5.0 out of 5 stars I thoroughly recommend it
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2019
From the start of Hillgate Hall I was intrigued by Phoebe, the main character. I felt drawn into her battle to survive financially in the face of her ex-husband and his ghastly (and wealthy) girlfriend.

Her struggle to make money from antique dealing, then teaching, and to keep custody of her son kept me turning the pages. There is a strong sense of reality - even in the strange Hillgate Hall,
the school where she finds a teaching post. I enjoyed the suspense, as Hillgate resurrects her own unhappy schooldays, and then makes her face a new demon.

Landscape is important in this book. There’s a contrast between Phoebe’s peaceful rural world and the psychological turmoil in her mind. I loved the recollections of her Yorkshire childhood
and her longing for the wildness of the moors - so different from the countryside where most of this tale is set.

Like Nicholas Bundock’s first novel, The Mirror Shop, Hillgate Hall is a compelling story with its well-observed characters, dark humour and the many twists in the plot. I thoroughly recommend it.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
VM
3.0 out of 5 stars TRIGGER WARNING: sexual assault
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2020
I didn't read the first book, but that didn't seem to be a problem. I was liking the story well enough, but stopped reading it when I realized it was going to include issues that I wasn't interested in dealing with.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars good read for a long flight or beach holiday
Reviewed in Canada on January 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
A great read following the angst and internal musings of a 40 something women navigating divorce, independence and life. Overcoming a break up of a marriage due to her husbands inability to say No, to a younger women. The deceit and distrust and reawakening felt by our lead character is at times gut wrenching but also refreshing
Report
S. J. Caputo
5.0 out of 5 stars Hillgate Hall- RURAL REALISM
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 14, 2020
Verified Purchase
Hillgate Hall for me was a compelling read. I recognised Phoebe. I empathised with her problems – health, money, marital breakdown- and I was intrigued by the way she set about solving them. Particularly strong was the description of depression and how it can take hold of a person and their life. In this book there is a cottage in the country, flowers, a market town and a wonderful landscape, but this was far from being a cosy novel. Rural realism is how I’d describe it. No soft Aga-saga here. At times it is visceral, and Phoebe is no angel. But there were also amusing passages, especially the descriptions of minor characters. There were twists in the plot too – no give-aways here. Phoebe’s reminiscences of her Yorkshire childhood and her attachment to the Brontes has made me want to read Jane Eyre (never having got round to it before- just watched the films and series). In his first novel, The Mirror Shop, Nicholas Bundock wrote partly through the eyes of the female protagonist, Eva, for me a compelling character. In Hillgate Hall the whole novel is the voice of a woman – quite a risk nowadays for a male novelist. But the author has again given us a totally convincing character. I recommend this book. The issues raised in it and the style of writing make it a good novel for a book club.
Report
L. Kirk
5.0 out of 5 stars A mesmerising tale.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 30, 2019
Verified Purchase
A very enjoyable read, mixing humour, angst, depression, antiques & life after divorce. Phoebe has to deal with the depression which sometimes overwhelms her & to earn a precarious living as an antiques dealer. Her ex husband having left her for a rather unpleasant, selfish & self-centred woman, she has to battle her demons & settle in a new job teaching at a minor boarding school. It tells of her fight back to regain her strength, self belief and solvency. She is supported by her great friend Molly, who is like a benevolent greek chorus & also Frank & new friend Ruth. I cheered her all the way, although tempted to give her a good shaking every now & then, kept the faith. Do read it & enjoy it & loose yourself in the fabulous descriptions of the Norfolk countryside, the antiques and the friendships. Couldn't put it down.
Report
Tony Macnabb
4.0 out of 5 stars An absorbing read with a detailed sense of place, and a strong character arc.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2019
Verified Purchase
The opening pages establish Hillgate Hall’s narrator as a struggling antique dealer just the sunny side of forty called Phoebe Burns, whose vain husband has left her for a twenty-something bitch goddess, Beatrice, known as B. To add to Phoebe's misery, the moneyed B. seems intent on luring away her son, James.

With that, the scene is set for a tale of psychological suspense in which a woman struggling emotionally and financially finds the inner strength to overcome her fears, traumas and existential challenges. Hillgate Hall’s tag line promises old shadows, new darkness, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Severely strapped for cash, Phoebe wangles herself a job at the eponymous Hillgate Hall, a somewhat dodgy boarding school run by the vainglorious Dr Lennox and staffed by an array of eccentrics and malcontents, drawn in convincing and often hilarious detail. One of the pleasures of this story is the counterpoint between salty comedy and gathering menace, as Phoebe’s already fragile morale wavers, at times looking like it is going to fragment.

Hillgate Hall (aka Hellgate Hall) proves to be the Chapel Perilous Phoebe must enter to confront her demons, and emerge renewed. Readers looking for a strong female protagonist – and who isn’t these days? – will find an engaging one in Phoebe.

As with Nick Bundock’s previous novel, The Mirror Shop, the main setting is North Norfolk, and the world of the story is one of antique dealing, gardening, and delight in country pursuits, all of which are evoked in convincing and absorbing detail, from the narrative point of view of an outsider. Phoebe isn’t a Norfolk girl, she’s from up North, which gives her just the right amount of distance from the world she inhabits. As the tension intensifies, Phoebe decides to fight her way back from the shadows into the land of the living. Does she succeed? What price does she pay? Will she emerge armed with the courage to be happy again? Click on Buy, and in ten seconds you can start to find out…
One person found this helpful
 Report
JM
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2020
Verified Purchase
A compelling read from start to finish. Can we have a sequel? I'd love to follow Kate in another intrigue.
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report