Release Date: Jan. 1, 2012
Publisher: Bethany House
Pages: 412 pages
Genre: Historical, Christian
Goodreads Summary: Pampered Margaret Macy flees London in disguise to escape pressure to marry a dishonorable man. With no money and nowhere else to go, she takes a position as a housemaid in the home of Nathaniel Upchurch, a suitor she once rejected in hopes of winning his dashing brother. Praying no one will recognize her, Margaret fumbles through the first real work of her life. If she can last until her next birthday, she will gain an inheritance from a spinster aunt--and sweet independence. But can she remain hidden as a servant even when prying eyes visit Fairbourne Hall?
Observing both brothers as an "invisible" servant, Margaret learns she may have misjudged Nathaniel. Is it too late to rekindle his admiration? And when one of the family is nearly killed, Margaret alone discovers who was responsible. Should she come forward, even at the risk of her reputation and perhaps her life? And can she avoid an obvious trap meant to force her from hiding?
On her journey from wellborn lady to servant to uncertain future, Margaret must learn to look past appearances and find the true meaning of "serve one another in love."
The more historical Christian fiction I read, the more I love it and it’s all because of books like The Maid of Fairbourne Hall. I need sweet and swoony books like this to break up the monotony of all the paranormal romance and dystopian books that I read. Plus, its summer and light, fun reading will always win with me on a hot day.
Twenty-four year old Margaret Macy is a privileged, shallow and spoiled woman who will come into a significant inheritance on her 25th birthday. Her stepfather (who married Margaret’s mother for her money) intends to keep that inheritance under his control so he moves his nephew into their house to woo her, plotting to have the couple married before Margaret turns 25. Margaret had unsuccessfully tried to escape her stepfather before but when she overhears a plot to force her into marriage by any means necessary, including having the nephew force himself on her, leaving her no choice but to marry him to save her reputation, Margaret takes desperate measures to hide away until her birthday.
An interesting set of circumstances leads Margaret to work as a maid in the home of Nathaniel and Lewis Upchurch. Years before, bookish and slightly nerdy Nathaniel had courted Margaret, fell in love with her and proposed. Margaret had liked Nathaniel well enough until she met his dashing older brother Lewis. Hoping for a proposal from Lewis instead, Margaret turned Nathaniel down, breaking his heart. Now that Nathaniel is back from working his family’s plantation in the Caribbean and is considerably more buff and tanned, Margaret gets to see exactly what she missed out on.
While The Maid of Fairbourne Hall shows the harsh way people of means treated their servants, the book is light as it focuses on Margaret’s epic fail as a maid and the lengths she goes through to keep up her ridiculous disguise so she won’t be recognized (notice the bad hair of the cover model? Yep, it’s a wig!). Margaret’s circumstances are rough but she totally deserves it for the way she treated people prior to her going into hiding. Margaret’s character goes through tremendous growth and maturity throughout the book and it is great to see. I love how she gets to covertly observe both brothers and realize just how wrong she was to judge them on appearances. The secondary characters, especially the brothers, are also very well developed.
The Maid of Fairbourne Hall is a well written book with a sweet, wonderful romance, lots of humor and even a bit of action. Reading this book made me happy and kept me thoroughly entertained. I highly recommend it to romance lovers of all ages.
Content: Kissing, some violence.
My Rating: Really Good!
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