About this book:
“Worlds lie between the marketplaces of India and the halls of a magnificent country estate like Highland Hall. Will Julia be able to find her place when a governess is neither upstairs family nor downstairs help?
Missionary Julia Foster loves working alongside her parents, ministering and caring for young girls in India. But when the family must return to England due to illness, she readily accepts the burden for her parents’ financial support. Taking on a job at Highland Hall as governess, she quickly finds that teaching her four privileged, ill-mannered charges at a grand estate is more challenging than expected, and she isn’t sure what to make of the estate’s preoccupied master, Sir William Ramsey.
Widowed and left to care for his two young children and his deceased cousin’s two teenage girls, William is consumed with saving the estate from financial ruin. The last thing he needs is the distraction coming of a kindhearted-yet-determined governess who seems to be quietly transforming his household with her persuasive personality, vibrant prayer life, and strong faith.
While both are tending past wounds and guarding fragile secrets, Julia and William are determined to do what it takes to save their families--common ground that proves fertile for unexpected feelings. But will William choose Julia’s steadfast heart and faith over the wealth and power he needs to secure Highland Hall’s future?”
Series: Book #1 in the “Edwardian Brides” trilogy.
Spiritual Content- Song of Songs 8:7 & Matthew 5:8 at the beginning; Scriptures are read & remembered; Many prayers & Thanking God; Church going & a benediction; Many talks about God, His will, trusting Him, asking Him to guide you, & callings; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Julia and her parents lived in India for twelve years as missionaries; Julia tells Sarah about the time God spoke to her heart about trusting Him; William’s sister, Sarah, notices that William’s faith has suffered with events in the last few years and he struggles to believe God truly cares and would intervene on his behalf (she offers sincere prayers for him); William is intrigued and challenged by Julia bring her spirituality into her everyday life; *Spoiler* At the end, William is convicted about trusting God and asks Him to guide and direct him *End of Spoiler*; William thinks and comments about his cousins maybe needing to learn about piety and spiritual instruction from Julia (one of the cousins huffs at this as she doesn’t like his interference in her life); Katherine lashes out at Julia saying that she’s tired of her “self-righteous attitude” and that she is “just as human and sinful” as everyone else; Katherine says that Julia wants her and her sister to analyze Bible passages and look for modern applications, which she calls “ridiculous”; Many mentions of God, His will, & asking Him to guide you; Many mentions of missionaries (including Julia and her parents), missions, callings from God and dreams, & sharing the gospel; Many mentions of prayers, praying, answered prayers, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles & Scripture reading; Mentions of reverends, churches, church going, services, & sermons; Mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of the Savior’s birth during Christmas; A couple mentions of a cross necklace; A couple mentions of godly values, godly people, & godly contentment; A couple mentions of religious families (including a woman saying that Julia was raised by “radically religious parents”); A mention of Bible classes; A mention of ornaments of baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the wise men; A mention of divine providence; A mention of the good hand of providence; A mention of Heaven; A mention of hymns; A mention of biblical philosophies; A mention of the spiritual needs of a family and their staff;
*Note: Phrases like “a devil of a time” and “what the devil” are each used once; “Good heavens” is used twice & “thank heaven” and “heavens” once each; William calls affairs the “devil’s trap”; A woman calls two children the “spawn of the devil” and Julia says that they shouldn’t speak that way about children; A woman calls India a “heathen environment” & Julia responds that she was raised by parents who passed on their godly values and that her experiences in India have given her “unique opportunities to see God at work in the world and to interact with all types of people”; William thinks that Julia taking care of his children and cousins isn’t “nearly as significant” as her life in India; A few mentions of luck; A couple mentions of a heathen country; A couple mentions of Hindu and heathen temples; A mention of an “ungodly” hour; A mention of superstitions.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stupid’ and six forms of ‘blast/blasted’; Some eye rolling & sarcasm; A mention of curses (implied, not written); A fire, an explosion, smoke, & fear (up to semi-detailed); *Spoilers* The housekeeper, Mrs. Emmitt decides that Julia is interfering too much with her position and decides to try to influence Katherine to get rid of her; Katherine lies that Julia is mean to her and pushes her around physically *End of Spoilers*; Julia eavesdrops and feels guilt; Mentions of deaths, the causes (including an illness and a riding accident), a possible upcoming death (Julia’s father), & grief; Mentions of a fire, smoke, injuries, & people possibly dying; Mentions of scarlet fever; Mentions of a father cutting of his daughter for marrying a certain man (his wife and other daughter secretly stayed in contact with her, however); Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of lies, lying, & a liar; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & a man drinking too much; A few mentions of thieves, stealing, & stolen items; A few mentions of a former governess smacking a child (telling him that it would drive the “foolishness” from his heart) & a tutor slapping a boy’s hands; A few mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of bullies & being bullied; A couple mentions of nightmares; A mention of a father’s drunken rages; A mention of hoping someone’s ship sinks and has a painful death by shark attack and drowning; A mention of a hunting trip; A mention of a man smoking on a pipe;
*Note: William’s sister, Sarah, has a misshapen hand and wrist and walks with a limp & she is described as “crippled” and having a “handicap” (Katherine calls is a “deformity” which hurts Sarah and makes her think that she probably never will get married or have children; *Spoiler* That first one is untrue as she gets married to a kind man she loves at the end *End of Spoiler*; Sarah and Clark have a discussion about God allowing challenges and limitations even if they seem unfair for our good “and the good of others…if we allow Him to.”; Another man makes a rude comment about Sarah being a “cripple” and is grabbed by Clark for the comment; William thinks negatively about a man pursing his sister, believing that he’s only interested in her inheritance); One of William’s cousins, Katherine, resents him for inheriting her home and deciding things about her life, adding that she has “no intention of letting him run [her] life”; William and his brother have a strained relationship and rivalry against each other; Mentions of a young boy being subjected to thoughtless and unkind comments from adults; Mentions of books & characters (The Jungle Book, Pride & Prejudice, Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, The Prince and the Pauper, & The Life of Reason); A few mentions of the Indian caste system (which Julia’s father spoke out against as God created all people equal); A mention of a mother showing her disapproval of her daughter with critical words (Sarah).
Sexual Content- Two hand/fingers kisses, a cheek kiss, a potential almost kiss (barely-above-not-detailed), and three barely-above-not-detailed kisses (two are unwanted/forced); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Flutters, & Smelling (x2 couples, barely-above-not-detailed); Some blushes & winks; Noticing & Staring (with two and a half couples, barely-above-not-detailed); On two separate occasions, two different men try to block Julia’s path when she tries to leave a room and one gives her a “suggestive smile”; One of the men tries to say that Julia flirted with him; William catches two of his staff members in an embrace and is greatly upset; When his brother hints to affairs being acceptable for men of their social status, William says that “affairs—discreet or otherwise—are the devil’s trap. Anyone who takes that path is a fool and courts his own destruction. I want nothing to do with them, and neither should you.” (the brother calls him a “paragon of virtue” after that and says that times are changing, but William responds that “what is right will never change. Chastity before the wedding and faithfulness after, that is the only way to assure a happy and long-lasting marriage.”); *Spoiler* Julia is forcibly kissed by William’s brother when he’s drunk after making a comment about her coming into his room to keep him company; This is caught by William who is greatly upset at it; Julia isn’t sure which upsets her most, David stealing a kiss by forcing himself on her or William thinking she was a willing partner to it *End of Spoiler*; One of the maids, Ann, has a sweetheart on the staff and he tries to get her to visit him at night in the stable (it’s never said if she goes or not; Julia talks to her about the man, saying that him trying to coax her to meet him in the stables when he knows it could cost her her job makes her doubtful of his character and adds “Sweet words are no replacement for a lifelong commitment. If he truly loves you, he should do what’s best for you, not just what makes him happy” and encourages her to pray about it; *Spoilers* Later, Ann receives a note from the man to meet him at night and she plans to do so despite the risk, but is caught by someone else before she meets the man (the man does not own up to the fact they were going to meet); Towards the end, the man tries to convince Ann to run away with him and not tell her parents, but because he isn’t mentioning marrying her, she hesitates and thinks about what Julia said to her *End of Spoilers*); a ‘hussy’; Mentions of affairs, an unfaithful wife, a man being unfaithful, & another man not feeling like he was “not enough to satisfy his young, impetuous wife” (*Spoiler* William thinks this as he found out his wife was not faithful after her death and still feels bitter about it; He was humiliated when the gossip about her unfaithfulness spread through London *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of flirting, flirts, & secret relationships between staff members and catching them in private places or embraces; A few mentions of a woman threatening to run away with a man despite her family’s disapproval; A couple mentions of songs about spooning and cuddling in the moonlight (which Julia doesn’t feel that is proper to sing about); A couple mentions of chaperones; A mention of a wife meeting a man’s “needs as only a wife could” (Julia thinks this and blushes so she quickly changes her thoughts in another direction); A mention of longing; A mention of wooing someone; Love, falling in love, & the emotions (x2);
*Note: Julia and her parents ran a home for girls in India that were orphans or girls they were able to buy “out of…difficult situations” (when William asks about this, Julia delicately says that some girls are sold by their families to Hindu temples for a “very heathen practice that takes away a young girl’s innocence and purity.”; Later, Julia mentions a heartbreaking time that a young girl was taken away and returned to the temple).
-Julia Foster, age 27
-William
P.O.V. switches between them, Mrs. Emmitt (x7), Ann (x3), Sarah (x6), & Clark (x3)
Set in 1911-1912
314 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
It’s been over a decade since I first read this book and because I have such fond memories of it, I’ve been looking forward to rereading the whole trilogy at some point! It was interesting what parts I remembered and what parts felt like reading the book for the first time. One thing I recalled was the strong faith content and that definitely still shone through the plot. Julia might be what some would consider a “good-two-shoes”, but I really like her and her heart. William is a prideful grump and I didn’t like him at the beginning, but it’s understandable for what he has gone through. I think I would have liked a bit faster character development on him, but Julia brought out how he could be better with the Lord’s guidance. This book highlights the difference between classes of this time period and how pride interferes with a romance starting to bloom between such a difference in positions.
For teen girl readers, there’s a sweet romance with heavy faith content and discussions, but also the lessons that Julia shares with a maid at Highland Hall that is letting her emotions take control. Because of the mentions of affairs and an unfaithful spouse, I would suggest this for ages 15+, but it’s all kept very clean and chaste in terms of what is said. If a younger reader has read a lot of classics, this would probably be fine as well.
This book has some dramatic parts and perhaps some cliche moments as well, but I enjoyed it all. I think it would make for a great period drama or movie because of it, personally! The faith content is what makes this book so good in my opinion and I loved how sweet Julia is. I’m looking forward to continuing my reread of this trilogy soon!
See y’all next time with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (WaterBrook Multnomah) for this honest review.
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