25 Book Reviews

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Historical Fiction At Its Best! A great romance!

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"The Maid of Fairbourne Hall"
              By Julie Klassen


Julie has outdone herself by writing another winning novel, using her talents of creating characters who are engaging and full of mystery and intrigue. The characters are well described and so alive, they become part of you. You can feel the adventure and hardships that each goes through. She capably includes  mystery  and danger into the plot , while developing a romantic theme throughout the book , in fact, there is more than one romance alive in this story.


Julie is able to keep you glued to the book by using her talent to create a scandalous mystery with secrets and romance that you can only imagine.  She is often compared by many as a modern Jane Austen, which is an accurate description.  


Synopsis:  The main character, Margaret flees her mother and stepfather's home in London to avoid being forced to marry a dishonorable man. Her stepfather knows that she is to come into a huge inheritance and wishes his nephew to marry her , in order to get his hands on the money. Mary runs, as she feels that is her only escape, with her lady's maid and takes a position in a household as a servant, doing jobs that have always been done for her. She has always been "The Lady" , not the maid. 
What is a complete shock , is that she ends up in the household working for the family of two former suitors.  Margaret, with a disguise and new name , fumbles her way through some jobs, that most of us would rather not even discuss.  Will she be discovered and forced out of hiding??  Will her stepfather get her inheritance and force an unwanted marriage upon her, or will she rekindle an old romance with a former suitor?? 
This book takes us into a different world- one of "belowstairs world" of a 19th century English manor. Appearances are very deceiving. Just because it is a manor , does not exempt it, or those in it,  from becoming involved in mystery, intrigue and danger. 




A great book!! Well done, Julie!! This is a great compliment from a fan who normally does not like Historical Fiction!! BUT , I could not put this book down!





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About Julie:
Julie Klassen loves all things Jane--Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. She has won the Christy Award: Historical Romance for The Silent Governess (2010) and The Girl in the Gatehouse (2011) which also won the 2010 Midwest Book Award for Genre Fiction. Julie and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota.





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1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the great review. So glad you enjoyed the book!

    ReplyDelete

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