Summary:
Elizabeth Markette impulsively moves to England after the death of her grandmother, her only living relative. Elizabeth has little money to her name and is determined to make it on her own as a governess, and hopefully live the life of one of the many book characters she loves reading about. Things don't go as planned and during the course of a year Elizabeth's life begins to change - and it is up to her to decide if it is for the better.
I'm still trying to sort my thoughts to decide what I think of this book. I hate to call books cute unless they are meant to be. Miss Dashwood's sister wrote a book, The Princess and the Sage, which was meant to be cute, and therefore, I have no trouble calling it such. I found Only a Novel cute, but I'm not sure it was meant to be.
The story was fun. It had an old fashioned feel to it, and some of Elizabeth's adventures and mishaps were amusing. There was meaning behind the story as well, even if it wasn't as applicable as might have been if all lived in the late 1800's. Elizabeth begins to realize in the book that servants are people too and should be treated as such, even though she was born into a higher society. But overall, it was just a fun, light story perfect for reading while laying out in the grass under the summer sun.
I loved the characters. Jonathan and Isibella were cute. (They were the little kids Elizabeth governs.) I adored Rodney, and Jenny was sweet. Elizabeth took a while to grow on me, but I think she was meant to come off that way. She was stubborn and a bit stuck up in the beginning, but she grows throughout the story. If I had to pick a favourite though it would be Rodney. He adopted a frog and made up stories, what isn't to like? And he was great with kids.
I would recommend this book to almost everyone. And I hope Miss Dashwood continues to write, because I like enjoyable stories and am always disappointed I cannot find more of them.
The story was fun. It had an old fashioned feel to it, and some of Elizabeth's adventures and mishaps were amusing. There was meaning behind the story as well, even if it wasn't as applicable as might have been if all lived in the late 1800's. Elizabeth begins to realize in the book that servants are people too and should be treated as such, even though she was born into a higher society. But overall, it was just a fun, light story perfect for reading while laying out in the grass under the summer sun.
I loved the characters. Jonathan and Isibella were cute. (They were the little kids Elizabeth governs.) I adored Rodney, and Jenny was sweet. Elizabeth took a while to grow on me, but I think she was meant to come off that way. She was stubborn and a bit stuck up in the beginning, but she grows throughout the story. If I had to pick a favourite though it would be Rodney. He adopted a frog and made up stories, what isn't to like? And he was great with kids.
I would recommend this book to almost everyone. And I hope Miss Dashwood continues to write, because I like enjoyable stories and am always disappointed I cannot find more of them.
This review made me feel happy inside. :) I'm really, really glad you found it enjoyable. It was meant to be exactly that-- a fun, light read. And I'm really glad you liked Rodney. He's my favorite too. :D
ReplyDeleteI also hope Miss Dashwood continues to write. I've been bugging her about it lately. ;)