After the death of most of her family, Evangeline's aunt brings her to Smeatley, a factory town totally different from her previous home. Raised in the upper class, Evangeline now must work as a schoolteacher--despite having no experience and barely understanding the Yorkshire accent--if she is to prove herself worthy of the inheritance her grandfather has saved for her and, more importantly, to be reunited with her sister Lucy, who has been sent away to attend school elsewhere. Evangeline's aunt is cruel to her, refusing to acknowledge that they are related, constantly critical of all of Evangeline's efforts, and reluctant to give Evangeline anything that might help her succeed. Irish brick mason Dermot is the only other person she knows, and while he initially seems reluctant to speak to her any more than necessary, he comes to be her dearest friend and biggest support. Dermot's son, Ronan, is different from other children and Dermot is worried about how he'll do at school, but Evangeline seems to understand his needs and he thrives under her attention. As Evangeline tries to do her best for her students, she finds herself clashing with school administrators and must decide how to move forward if the school inspector demands she change her teaching style to the detriment of her students. Changing her style could help her efforts to be reunited with Lucy, but they could also alienate all of the students; refusing to change could cost her her job and force her to leave Smetley--and Dermot.
I absolutely loved this book. Sarah Eden is fantastic at writing snappy dialogue and incorporating humor, and I laughed so many times at Dermot's and Evangeline's interactions. Eden also does a great job at developing her characters, and I loved not only the main characters but also secondary characters. I really enjoyed the look at Victorian England and the working class--it was really interesting to learn about issues such as mill workers' housing and factory conditions in the context of the story. I also really enjoyed reading about the dialect differences and how the people of Smetley's language wasn't considered "proper" and how it was difficult for children to learn to read English that was spelled so differently from their own dialect. That was just a really interesting addition to the story--the type of addition that makes this book stand out from other historical romances. The romance is sweet, the characters are terrific, and I loved everything about the book. I've loved Sarah Eden's Regency books, but I'm excited about her venture into the Victorian Era and hope she'll be writing more books in this time period!
I read a copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment