TheWell Bookshop

Series · historical romance

The Daughters of Mannerling

by M. C. Beaton

The Daughters of Mannerling series by M. C. Beaton has 6 known books (6 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Banishment (1995).

Books
6 known books (6 novels)
Published
6
First published
1995
Status
completed
Last checked

Start here: The Banishment (1995) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of The Banishment

The Banishment (1995)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. The Banishment

    Novel

    The Banishment opens The Daughters of Mannerling, M. C. Beaton's series about the six Beverley sisters who lose their beloved ancestral estate to a gambling debt. Published in 1995 at 151 pages, it introduces eldest sister Isabella's own attempt to navigate a courtship complicated by the family's shared obsession with reclaiming their lost house.

    View book

  2. The Intrigue

    Novel

    The Intrigue, the second book in The Daughters of Mannerling, published in 1995 at 150 pages, turns to another Beverley sister as she is drawn into the same tangle of suitors and schemes that might -- or might not -- win Mannerling back for the family.

    View book

  3. The Deception

    Novel

    The Deception (1996) follows The Intrigue in The Daughters of Mannerling and precedes The Folly, continuing the Beverley sisters' one-by-one progression through courtships shadowed by their shared dream of reclaiming the family estate.

    View book

  4. The Folly

    Novel

    At 165 pages, The Folly was published in 1996, the fourth book in The Daughters of Mannerling, following another Beverley sister as she weighs a match against the family's still-unresolved obsession with winning back Mannerling.

    View book

  5. The Romance

    Novel

    At 164 pages, The Romance was published in 1997, the fifth book in The Daughters of Mannerling, bringing the Beverley sisters' quest to reclaim their ancestral home ever closer to its resolution.

    View book

  6. The Homecoming

    Novel

    The Homecoming (1997) closes out The Daughters of Mannerling, following The Romance as the sixth and final book -- the volume in which the youngest Beverley sister's story, and the family's long fight to win back Mannerling, is finally resolved.

    View book

About The Daughters of Mannerling

When the reckless Beverley family loses Mannerling, their beloved ancestral estate, to a gambling debt, each of the six Beverley sisters -- Isabella, Jessica, Abigail, Rachel, Belinda and Lizzie -- responds to the loss in her own way, but nearly all of them share one obsession in common: getting Mannerling back, whatever it costs. Beginning with The Banishment, the series follows the sisters one by one as they navigate courtships complicated by that inheritance -- suitors who might restore the house, matches that would mean giving up the dream of it forever, and the slow, hard-won realization that a home isn't only a building.

Written under the Marion Chesney name in the mid-1990s, the series is unusual among Beaton's multi-sister Regency series for giving its family drama a genuinely obsessive, almost gothic edge -- Mannerling itself functions almost as a character, and the sisters' fixation on reclaiming it drives real conflict between them, not just external courtship plots. Each book resolves its featured sister's romance, but the Mannerling question itself only fully resolves by series' end, giving this sextet more of a through-line than some of Beaton's other sister series.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in M.C. Beaton's Daughters of Mannerling series?

Six, published between 1995 and 1997, starting with The Banishment.

What is the Daughters of Mannerling series about?

Six sisters whose family loses their ancestral estate, Mannerling, to a gambling debt, and who each pursue romance while nursing various degrees of obsession with getting the house back.

What order should I read the Daughters of Mannerling books in?

Publication order: The Banishment, The Intrigue, The Deception, The Folly, The Romance, and The Homecoming. The Mannerling storyline builds across all six.

Does the Mannerling storyline get resolved?

Yes -- the question of whether the Beverley family reclaims their estate is only fully settled by the final book, The Homecoming.

Were these books originally published under a different name?

Yes, originally as Marion Chesney; later editions have been reissued under the M.C. Beaton byline.

Reading order last verified .