Books for Christian Girls: "Beneath His Silence" by Hannah Linder

About this book:

  “Will Seeking Justice Lead to Her Own Demise?
    A Gothic-Style Regency Romance from a Promising Young Author
    Second daughter of a baron—and a little on the mischievous side—Ella Pemberton is no governess. But the pretense is a necessity if she ever wishes to get inside of Wyckhorn Manor and attain the truth. Exposing the man who killed her sister is all that matters.
    Lord Sedgewick knows there’s blood on his hands. Lies have been conceived, then more lies, but the price of truth would be too great. All he has left now is his son—and his hatred. Yet as the charming governess invades his home, his safe cocoon of bitterness begins to tear away.
    Could Ella, despite the lingering questions of his guilt, fall in love with such a man? Or is she falling prey to him—just as her dead sister?”

Series: As of now, no.

Spiritual Content- Scriptures are read; Bible reading; Ella doesn’t care what God thinks of her because she doesn’t know if there really is a God, that she was repulsed that her father had turned to “such weakness” on his deathbed, & hasn’t seen proof of God (which Henry tells her that she just hasn’t looked and that gets her wondering); Ella doesn’t want to say prayers out-loud with a child, thinking that he’s been taught foolishness; *Spoiler* About halfway, Ella truly starts wondering about God and then a bit later prays to God, saying she believes in Him *End of Spoiler*; Henry has a faith after going through terrible events, but sometimes feels like there’s too much guilt between himself and Heaven (he wonders if God has forgiven him); A vicar aims a gun at someone saying that he is performing the will of the Lord (he says that is won’t be easy as he’s a man of the cloth and it could destroy his congregation, *Spoiler* but does not end up shooting him *Spoiler*); Many prayers; Many talks about God, seeing proof of Him, & faiths; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Many mentions of God, faiths, praying, & forgiveness; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of churches, church going, & a vicar (who is said to spent half the time trying to convert Ella and the other half trying to win her heart); Mentions of sins; A few mentions of Heaven;
             *Note: Phrases like “in the name of everything holy”, “for mercy’s sake”, & “in heaven’s name” are used up to a couple times each; Ewan tells Henry to “go to the devil” when mad at him & tells a group “the devil with all of you”; Henry believes a curse has been placed on his house and him after his wife’s death & mentions of it; Ewan thinks that God Himself is ordaining a punishment (but is actually his own plan); Ewan says that a deceased person still talks to him (he is mentally unwell); Ella isn’t one who adores children, thinking that they are “strange and devilish creatures if the village urchins are any indication”; Someone calls Ella an “uncouth little devil” after she talks back to someone in a higher status than her; A nightmare about hellfire and hearing “sleep of death” said; A couple mentions of a woman being called a goddess; A couple mentions of a rumored ghost; A mention of a prison/locked room being called a man’s “demon chambers”; A mention of a man being like a “mad, devilish creature”; A mention of rats being “fearsome little devils”; A mention of guilt being a demon;

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘bloody’, a ‘bloody-well’, a ‘blooming’, a ‘stupid’, a ‘why the deuce’, two ‘blasted’s, two forms of ‘dash it all’, two forms of ‘what the—‘, three forms of ‘what/why/who the devil’, six forms of ‘dash’, and twenty-one forms of ‘biddy’; Mentions of curses (said, not written); Being threatened with a gun (thrice), seeing someone shot and killed, being shot, shooting at someone (self-defense), pain, blood/bleeding, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); Setting a fire, being locked in a fire set on fire, panic, & pain (semi-detailed); Fighting, Being hit, Being choked, Pain, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Helping a those on a shipwreck, being caught in the waves, seeing bodies, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); Being thrown off a horse & pain (up to semi-detailed); Nightmares (up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler* Ewan kidnaps Peter (Henry’s son) to have Henry become all alone like him & also sets fire to Ella’s room after locking her in there (semi-detailed) *End of Spoiler*; Ella believes that Henry murdered her sister/his wife; Henry threats a man by grabbing his throat (barely-above-not-detailed); Ewan gambles, drinks alcohol, & throws up (*Spoiler* Including Ewan gambling Peter (a young boy) away and the man who “won” him using him for ransom for money and Ella (he tells her that he killed the boy, but did not) *End of Spoiler*); Ella hides her true identity from Henry and both Ella & Henry lie a couple times; Henry did not have his mother’s love growing up and is sadden by the fact his son won’t as well (Henry struggles to forgive his mother for her leaving/disappearance); When something is destroyed, Ella thinks that her mother was right in her endless scolding about Ella’s recklessness; Many, many mentions of Ella’s sister’s murder, her trying to find out what really happened, the murderer, & Ella wanting revenge on the murderer (up to semi-detailed, *Major Spoiler* It turns out her sister was having an affair with her husband’s brother and was accidentally shot by Henry (who feels guilt and grief over this) when he confronted her and the brother (Henry says he was so angry that he almost wanted to kill his brother and asks God why the gun went off) *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of someone who wants to kill himself, but is locked up so that doesn’t happen (he is not mentally well most of the time after the death of a loved one) & him wanting to make someone else suffer, *Spoiler* Henry’s brother and Ewan wants Henry to suffer *End of Spoiler*, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a shipwreck, deaths, bodies, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of the possibility of being murdered; Mentions of ransom; Mentions of gunshots, being shot, getting the bullet out, fights/being hit, blood/bleeding, injuries, & pain (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of fires, smoke, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of crimes & criminals; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & taverns; Mentions of gambling & debts; Mentions of hatred (including Henry and Ewan towards their mother); Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deceit; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of wars & injuries; A few mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of smoking & cigars; A few mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of bribes (including someone thinking that a constable is taking them); A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of eavesdropping; A mention of a possibly injured horse.

Sexual Content- Two hand kisses, two cheek kisses, a jaw kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and three semi-detailed kisses; Staring at someone’s lips; Touches, Dancing, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including a brief mention of a bit of chest hair, barely-above-not-detailed); *Major Spoiler* Ella’s sister (Henry’s wife) had more than one affair with his brother and they had a child together (which she kept who was the biological father a secret from both Henry and Ewan; Henry believes that the child is his); Ewan had “a thrill” in taking Lucy away from his brother and gaining her love without Henry knowing; In Lucy’s diary, it’s said that Henry did not give his heart to her (he married her out of social obligation) and was aloof to her; A couple mentions of their secrets nights of love that was “wild and forbidden” with passion *End of Spoiler*; A man tries to get Ella to warm his bed and go with his to a room by threatening to kill her if she doesn’t & *Spoiler* later asks for her as part of a ransom deal (which Henry is strongly against her being a part of it, but Ella sneaks out and Henry saves her before anything happens.) *End of Spoiler*; For the first third of the book, Henry doesn’t like interacting with women because he knows what they want (marriage) when they try to brush up against him (he later says he “wants” Ella but catches himself); Mentions of couples sharing beds (married and an affair); Mentions of kisses, hand greeting kisses, & embraces; Mentions of touches, smelling, & blushes; A few mentions of a mother possibly disappearing with another man (leaving her husband and children); A couple mentions of reputations & compromising someone; A couple mentions of flirts & flirting; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a maid’s scandal; Love, falling in love, & the emotions.

-Ella Pemberton, age 22
-Henry Sedgewick
                                P.O.V. switches between them & Ewan
                                            Set in 1814 (Epilogue in 1815)
                                                        320 pages

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Pre Teens-

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My personal Rating-

All I need to hear is “clean regency mystery” and I’m excited to read the story. Which is what happened when I first heard about this new novel. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would and that’s possibly because I hyped it up in my head prior to reading it. It’s a bummer, unfortunately, and I have mixed feelings on this book. :(

Some things I liked: The faith content was strong throughout the story and very realistic for what the characters were going through; I particularly liked seeing Ella’s development in that regard. I liked the writing style and would definitely try another book by this author. That we see both Ella and Henry’s point of view, because if we only saw her POV, then we probably would have hated him with her in the first half of the story. (He’s dealing with his own grief and guilt over the past events, but doesn’t share his emotions with anyone else.)

What I wasn’t a big fan of: The suggestions of a creepy man towards Ella and him trying to force her to go with him into a room. The last 30% or so of the story felt very melodramatic, and while, yes, there was a lot happening, I can’t pin-point exactly what displeased me on this (part of it was partially because of someone who’s mentally ill being a villain-like figure). Henry believing in a curse on him, even though that’s not of God. Henry was interested in Ella, knowing that she didn’t believe in God and didn’t share his faith (that part is quickly resolved, but I would have preferred Henry to be at least somewhat hesitate towards her because of that). The vicar was an odd side plot. The angst of Henry and Ella’s feelings, particularly when the reveal of identities happened. There felt like there were inconsistencies in regards to the regency time period (Henry and Ella being alone together a lot, no chaperones, and elements of the dramatic ending).

So, yes, it was more of some suggestive hints and then some little things that added up and affected my enjoyment of the story, unfortunately.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!