Books for Christian Girls: "The Tutor's Daughter" by Julie Klassen

About this book:

  “Emma Smallwood, determined to help her widowed father regain his spirits when his academy fails, agrees to travel with him to the distant Cornwall coast, to the clifftop manor of a baronet and his four sons. But after they arrive and begin teaching the younger boys, mysterious things begin to happen and danger mounts. Who does Emma hear playing the pianoforte, only to find the music room empty? Who sneaks into her room at night? Who rips a page from her journal, only to return it with a chilling illustration?
   The baronet's older sons, Phillip and Henry, wrestle with problems—and secrets—of their own. They both remember Emma Smallwood from their days at her father's academy. She had been an awkward, studious girl. But now one of them finds himself unexpectedly drawn to her.
   When the suspicious acts escalate, can the clever tutor's daughter figure out which brother to blame... and which brother to trust with her heart?”

Series: No, a stand-alone novel.

Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are mentioned, remembered, & quoted (including at the beginning of a chapter); Prayers & Thanking God; Church going & a bit of a sermon; A hymn is sung & written out; Some witnessing; Talks about God, Heaven, & prayers; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; Emma rarely prays since she feels as if God doesn’t answer her prayers and believes she can rely on no one but herself (*Spoiler* Towards the end, she starts being open to God and listening to Him again *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & Thanking and praising God; Mentions of Heaven & one’s eternity; Mentions of churches/chapels, church going, services, sermons, & vicars/clergymen; Mentions of a monk & his devotion to God; A few mentions of a drawing of Adam and Eve in the Garden (done by a child and has leaves covering them); A few mentions of Easter (in regards to the holiday break); A few mentions of blessings; A mention of the Old Testament; A mention of Christians; A mention of christening babies; A mention of some people viewing shipwrecks to be God’s grace to them and won’t save any survivors because of it; A mention of someone who has passed not being in the churchyard, but somewhere “far better”;
*Note: When a conversation about God viewing all lives as “equally important”, someone makes a comment that “that’s one interpretation”; Many mentions of a rumored ghost & a house being haunted (Emma does not believe in ghosts and tries to figure out what it really is); Mentions of Greek mythology & gods from it; A few mentions of superstitions & legends (giants, piskies, mermaids, and ghosts are given as examples); A couple mentions of a woman having a superstitious streak and being “keen on lineage” (see Negative Content Note section for more information); A mention of supernatural terrors; A mention of someone being a “lucky devil”; The phrases “devil of a shock” and “God in heaven” (used when something shocking happened) are both used once.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘care a fig’, a form of ‘dumb’, a ‘what the devil’, a ‘who the blazes’, two ‘idiot’s, two ‘shut up’s, four ‘dash it’s, four ‘thunder and turf’s, fifteen ‘dashed’s, and sixteen “Good heavens”s; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Some eye rolling; Thinking you’re going to die, Being trapped, Possibly drowning, & Helping rescue those in a shipwreck (up to semi-detailed); Emma slaps someone (who wouldn’t let go of her); Emma’s father makes a couple comments about wanting to die (he is depressed and grieving his wife); Many mentions of shipwrecks, drownings, bodies, seeing it happen, greedy wreckers, smugglers, thieves, thefts, and stealing (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of teasing, pranks, & meanness from children/teens to others (including Henry to Emma, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of deaths of loved ones & grieving (for a wife & for a mother); Mentions of wars, battles, & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of criminals & crimes; Mentions of fighting & fights; Mentions of threats of harm & death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of blood/bleeding, fake blood in a threat/warning, & a drawing of a beheading (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & social drinking (at dinners); Mentions of a mother leaving her daughter with her new husband (abandoning them both); Mentions of ugly names & calling others those names (young Emma and Henry, a young woman called Emma a “cow”, and two brothers fight and call the other a name); A few mentions of possible beatings & thinking a child is being beaten; A few mentions of hangings & a guillotine; A few mentions of eavesdropping; A couple mentions of finding a dead body; A couple mentions of a burn & injuries; A couple mentions of vandalism; A couple mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of imaging a loved one being swept out into sea; A mention of jail; A mention of throwing up; A mention of killing a chicken;
             *Note: Some do not care if a crew on a ship dies as then they can legally have the cargo; Using a chamber pot (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of authors, books, & quotes from both are shared at the beginning of each chapter; Many mentions of those born with disabilities, others disapproving of them, others believing them to be dangerous and/or violent, some families sending others away because of it, & the option of workhouses or asylums (including a mention of some parents being concerned about their other children learning their “less-developed behaviors”); A couple mentions of infant mortality & deaths; A couple mentions of a woman canceling her daughter’s marriage due to a superstitious streak because the man’s family having someone with a club foot; A mention of a man’s tone implying that a woman is “feather-brained”.

Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch (detailed), two hand kisses, an almost (semi-detailed) kiss, four cheek/chin kisses, three forehead/temple kisses, a not-detailed kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, two semi-detailed kisses, a detailed kiss, and a very detailed kiss; Remembering kisses & embraces (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss & be kissed (up to semi-detailed); Emma recalls her first kiss when she was alone in the dark with a young man (she found it exciting to be alone with him, up to semi-detailed); Emma dreams of a man almost kissing her (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Warmth, & Hand holding (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including muscles and curves, up to semi-detailed); Emma received love letters that mention her lips and her “delectable” earlobe; Emma and Henry talk late at night when in their nightclothes (scandalous for the time period); A man leers at Emma, focusing on her bosom (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of young women being in gentlemen’s bedchambers (both innocently and suggestive); Mentions of kisses, kissing, touches, & embraces; Mentions of flirting; A few mentions of a dance being performed by a man naked; A few mentions of jealousy; A mention of a wedding night; A mention of Henry becoming amorous even at a near-death experience (towards Emma); A mention of a man running away with an older woman; A mention of a teacher only teaching his students on how to flirt with older women; A mention of a possible innuendo by a young man; A mention of a possible drawing of a woman in an embarrassing state; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Henry notices another young woman and finds her unattractive including the fact that he finds her dull; A few mentions of women’s figures (including in a poem by a young man); A couple mentions of Emma’s mother giving her rare praise on her slim figure; A mention of Emma thinking that she doesn’t have much in the bosom area; A mention of Emma’s figure filling out (in her point of view); A mention of an older woman in a low-cut gown; A mention of labor pains.

-Emma Smallwood, age 21
-Henry Weston
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                     Set in 1817 (Prologue in 1812 and flashbacks throughout the story)
                                                        414 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

I was in the mood for a regency novel and since this one had a mystery thread hinted through it, I decided to pick it up. Unfortunately, it’s not one I would recommend to BFCG readers because of the romance content in the last hundred or so pages; more on that in a bit.

We start seeing the point of view of the love interest about a hundred pages in and I was glad about that because else wise I would have liked to tar and feather him. If you like books with family drama, then here you go. I typically like it, but I had foreseen some plot twists coming so it took out a large part of my enjoyment, unfortunately. :(

For being so smart, Emma isn’t the brightest on dealing with others. I feel bad saying that, but I say it because she’s truly let past prejudices and actions of someone when they were young completely affect and cloud her judgement now. I can’t blame her because I know I’ve been guilty of this myself in years past, but it added an (in my opinion) unnecessary angst to the romance side of the plot. Speaking of the romance: there were a few kisses that were a bit much and affected the ratings for BFCG’s target ages along with a couple comments during those parts. Sweet at times, yes, but also what I would call a bit too heavy for younger teens. Especially as the main romance content happened with a very heavy detailed kiss being because the characters think they’re going to die, which I don’t think is the best idea to promote.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!