Margaret is accustomed to living a fine life. Although her late father was only a minister, they had always had money and lived well. Until recently. On Margaret's 25th birthday, she would come into a great amount of money that had been set aside for her by her aunt. And her step-father knew this.
In his attempt to keep the money within the family and reap the benefits of the fortune, he insisted on his nephew, Marcus marrying her. Although Mararet had had many suitors in the past and even came close to marrying one, a Nathaniel Upchurch, she decided she would not marry anyone and support herself fully. Marrying Marcus was not in the plans. But her step-father was insistant and one day Margaret overheard a plot to make them have to marry each other. And so, she fled.
She decided to try her luck as a maid... but where would she end up? At Fairbourne Hall... the home of Nathaniel Upchurch, her former suitor and the man she rudely rejected in favor of his older and more dashing brother, Lewis. Luckily, she had disguised herself. She hid her blonde hair under a ratty brown wig, her white eyebrows with some black soot and put a pair of spectacles on her nose. And with her maid clothes, fake accent and new name, Nora, no one suspected... for a while at least. But how can a lady of privilage learn to be a maid? How could she stand the hours of hard labor? How could she lower herself to such standards? Read and see how Margaret's appearance isn't the only thing that changes.
I thouroughly enjoyed this book. It was so clever and well written. The whole time I was holding my breath just waiting for her to be discovered. And watching her change was really beautiful. The book is also filled with insight of what life was like behind the scenes... as a maid. And it wasn't always pretty! The only thing I didn't love about the book was that I felt that at times it moved a little too slowly... there was a lot of day-to-day. But when the action arrose, it was brilliant!
4 Stars!
I received a complementary copy of this book for the purpose of this review.
Now for some GIVEAWAYS!!!
Enter Today and Save the Date-3/15!
- A brand new Kindle Fire
- A Julie Klassen Library (The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, The Girl in the Gatehouse, and The Silent Governess)
So grab your copy of The Maid of Fairbourne Hall and join Julie and friends on the evening of March 15th for a book chat party.
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Thanks, Nicole. I appreciate your review and am glad you enjoyed the book. Have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteIn Maid of Fairbourne Hall, Julie Klassen sweeps us away to 19th century London, in a delightful tale reminiscent of the timeless classics of the beloved Jane Austen. It is a tale of the very wealthy, and their loyal servants, beautiful gowns and masquerade balls, deceit and unrequited love. Our heroine, self-centered Margaret Macy, who stands to inherit a fortune on her next birthday, is forced to leave her home by her money hungry stepfather and his conniving nephew. Not knowing exactly where she is going, Margaret finds herself hired as a servant at Fairbourne Hall, owned by none other than two of her past suitors...Nathaniel Upchurch and his brother, Lewis!
ReplyDeleteDesperate not to be discovered, the beautiful, blonde Margaret, dons a brunette wig from one of her masquerade balls, and becomes a servant in every sense of the word...even lowering herself to emptying the disgusting chamber pots. Infatuated at one time with Lewis Upchurch, Margaret turned down his brother, Nathaniel's marriage proposal...much to her chagrine, for Nathaniel has turned into one swoonworthy male, and she finds Lewis to be very shallow and selfish.