As she fumbles through the first real work of her life, Margaret struggles to keep her identity secret when suspicions arise and prying eyes visit Fairbourne Hall. Can she avoid a trap meant to force her from hiding?
Comment: This is the fourth book by Julie Klassen that I try. Despite some things I liked more than others, her books have been impressive enough to make me want to keep reading so here is another attempt.
In this story we meet Margaret Macy, a young woman whose stepfather wants to see her married to his nephew so that they take charge of the inheritance Margaret will receive in her next birthday.
To avoid this fate, she decides to run away with her maid, recently discharged for a mistake she didn't commit.
In order to hide and not being forced to marry against her will but knowing her younger siblings might be in jeopardy if she can't wait, she decides to travel disguised as a maid but without nay help whatsoever, she has no other choice but to actually work as a maid at a mansion. This proves to be quite the task for Margaret, previously used to have others do things for her instead. To top it off, she finds work at the house of a man she had arrogantly refused, not caring for his feelings.
Will Margaret succeed in avoiding a situation she wouldn't be able to change? Will she be able to pretend she is a real maid?
If one wanted to simplify, this book's plot is basically about a woman pretending to be someone she's not and when caught, the climax of the whole thing is to see how she reacts to others discovering her identity. The thing is, usually it's the other way around and often is the maid pretending to be an aristocrat. In this case, Margaret has good reasons to avoid people who might know her or being in a place those more familiar with her would recognize her.
The beauty of things is, of course, how the author makes Margaret go though an inner change, meaning, during her experience as a maid, she is able to understand the other side, she is able to see a a side of things she didn't imagine not had she contemplated it before having to actually live it.
I'll be honest, this was the aspect that made me so eager to keep reading and after a not so special first chapter, the idea of having someone putting herself in a position where she had to be humble, she had to make do, she had to "suffer" the treatment she would often impose on those working for her family... I was quite eager to see how the author would "redeem" a very arrogant and somewhat conceited Margaret into someone we could care about.
Most of the book was focused on this. I really liked the lessons Margaret had to learn and how she slowly but steadily lived the experience of what it was like to be powerless and defenseless against certain situations.
The plot follows the usual parts of hide and seek, sometimes Margaret would be almost found, sometimes it would be too silly how she was not, then some characters learned her secret but kept it, through her eyes secondary characters would flourish in their roles...
The romance, obviously, was not quick. It took time for both main characters to simply accept their feelings and since this is labeled inspirational, nothing really happens on the page. I must say the romance was sweet on its own way.
This was moving towards - I felt then - a very good read, it was engaging, interesting to follow... but then, a secondary plot started to have more focus. I thought it would help with a certain detail but no... it actually ended up in noting that would be important for the main story, which had been the focus so far. Many pages centered in this followed and, to be honest, besides being pointless to me, they sort of stole the show from what had been an amazing story.
Sadly for me, the time it took for this secondary plot to be solved (quite quickly, it turned out) meant that the amazing story ended up rushed, with situations not well explained and things solved so easily it almost mocks the time it took to set it up.
Then, the parts I loved about Margaret's experience were not as well used in the end, she went back to her "real" identity and I felt what she went through was not that important anymore, nor were those she had befriended while working as a maid. I mean, talk about disappointment!
I graded this well because for the most part, this was a very engrossing tale. What a pity things didn't hold on as well towards the end.
Grade: 7/10
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