About this book:
“Miss Elizabeth Rawlins knows her place in 1813; she manages the scullery in a gentleman’s kitchen, takes care of her two younger siblings when she’s home, and helps her mother keep their household in order – as she has always done since their father left years before. But when Elizabeth’s mother passes away unexpectedly, she and her three siblings are sent to live with an uncle they barely know, a reclusive gentleman from the English countryside. Thrust into a new life and learning how to manage Regency English society from afar, Elizabeth discovers that her uncle’s manor holds a great many secrets, secrets that are hers whether she likes it or not…but it is much more exciting than the scullery.”
Series: Book #1 in the “Savantor Spies” series.
Spiritual Content- Psalm 37:3 at the beginning & Ephesians 1:3 in the author’s acknowledgements; Scriptures are read, written out on-page, mentioned, discussed, & thought over; Prayers & Thanking Jesus; Bible reading; Being witnessed to; Talks about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, trusting Him, & loving Him; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Elizabeth’s family attended church a few times, but due to being too busy, they stopped and Elizabeth thinks that because her family was “so low by others’ standards, surely God wouldn’t have loved us anyway” and that “if our earthly father didn’t love my family enough to stay, why should an all-powerful Heavenly Father? Our own mother didn’t have time for us, so why should God make time for us if our own mother didn’t?” (she also adds that she wouldn’t want to take up the time He could be using for someone else and hurries away from the conversation with her new governess; This doesn’t sit well with her so she plans to ask for forgiveness despite not knowing what to apologize for); Elizabeth says she believes in God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit even though she doesn’t quite understand it; Elizabeth realizes that she hasn’t put in trust in God or anyone, so her governess gives her a Bible saying “Let me try to get you to trust Him, and if you don’t find reason to, or you simply don’t want to, then I will not force you.” But asks to try and Elizabeth is eager to learn; The more she reads the Book of Luke, the more convinced Elizabeth becomes in her belief of Jesus doing all the amazing miracles and prays to ask God to show her how to pray and teach her to be less scared; Elizabeth’s uncle and the others do not go to church (at first he gives vague excuses about not wanting to be around so many people and that the nearest church is too far; Elizabeth thinks it’s because of his “business” and either didn’t want to be known among people or he feels guilty for something and being in church brought it to mind; Another woman says that the closest church is more of a place people use to see their family and friends, rarely a place to learn and worship God, and that it’s dangerous for their line of work to be so open socially; Elizabeth thinks about reading the Bible more with her older brother so that Jesus can help him with his anger towards their father and not be “so morose all of the time”; Elizabeth prays for Jesus to guide her and takes comfort in hoping that even if she does something wrong, Jesus will turn it into something good like He suffered death and rose again (but using this to justify her wrongdoing doesn’t feel quite right, she notes); Elizabeth thinks that her younger brother is wrestling with the idea of Jesus living in his heart like she did, but he quickly believes what she said about Jesus which makes Elizabeth envy his faith; Elizabeth gives all her anxieties, worries, and burdens to Jesus & feels her soul is lighter afterwards; Many mentions of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, trusting Him, & Christians; Many mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those and events in the Bible; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches & church going; A few mentions of illustrations of Biblical events (Jesus’ birth & Daniel and the Lions’ Den); A few mentions of being Blessed; A couple mentions of a missionary & mission work; A couple mentions of a woman “meditating” outside and praying to the Lord (she also comments that she never hears His replies in words, but feels it “deep inside [her] soul, [her] spirit”); A mention of Heaven (when Elizabeth says their mother is looking down at them proudly and waiting for them in Heaven);
*Note: ‘For Heaven’s sake’ is said once; Elizabeth thinks that “luck was on my side—or rather, God was blessing me” when something positive happens; A couple mentions of evil men and their evil laughter; A couple mentions of Hercules; A mention of “luck and divine intervention” helping someone.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘bah!’ and a ‘dratted’; A bit of teasing and eye rolling between siblings; Being kidnapped, Being tied-up, Being drugged, Pain (both physical and emotional), Injuries, Passing out, & Grief (over her mother’s death and father leaving); Elizabeth remembers a head cook that would bully her by yelling at her and bruising her with a wooden spoon; Elizabeth is told by adults that “while spying is ethically wrong, sometimes it is necessary” and that “sometimes we must do the wrong thing for the right reason” (the governess quotes Matthew 10:16 with this), which she at first doesn’t understand, but she realizes with a flash that she has a new goal of being a spy “just as long as you do it at the right time. Only do it when it feels right in your spirit.”); Elizabeth eavesdrops five times and realizes with guilt over four of them that she needs to apologize to the people she eavesdropped on and does so (another time she doesn’t feel right eavesdropping on the adults, but her brother reminds her that “sometimes one must do the wrong thing for the right reason”; She tells her governess that she has a problem which is that her curiosity leads to eavesdropping; Later, Elizabeth eavesdrops again but doesn’t feel guilty because of the important information learned); Elizabeth has always tried not to partake in gossip at her former employment, but couldn’t help but overhear it because of others; Mentions of deaths & grief (including for parents and sisters; Elizabeth’s younger siblings sobbing over missing their mother as well); Mentions of executions & exile; Mentions of wars, invasions, & fighting; Mentions of a kidnapping & ransom; Mentions of Elizabeth’s father leaving their family years prior & the different emotions regarding it (including grief and anger); Mentions of stealing (including spies having to steal important documents from someone about smuggling weapons); Mentions of treason & traitors; Mentions of nightmares & bad dreams (and crying over them); Mentions of lies, lying, & deceit; Mentions of eavesdropping, gossip, & rumors; A few mentions of a gunshot; A couple mentions of gambling debts; A mention of being held at knife-point;
*Note: Elizabeth’s father left their family years prior and “despite the poverty he left [her family] in”, she misses him and tries to summon up a couple happier memories of him on the rare happy occasions when he was happy (Uncle Jared and Elizabeth’s older brother think about the man with anger; Uncle Jared also thinks on the man being nefarious and when he tried to tell/warn Elizabeth’s mother; *Spoilers* Towards the end, her father reappears and when she asks him why he left, he gets angry and leaves again which makes Elizabeth cry; She thinks that she’s always wanted him back, but that longing has faded in the time spent with her uncle and no longer feels a “burning desire” for her father; Elizabeth notes that after this, her brother had given up on their father and it seems like that would be the best option for her too which lifts a huge weight off of her chest, but still makes her heart ache *End of Spoilers*); Elizabeth has pangs of sadness when thinking about her mother, how she didn’t have time for them because of all the work she had to do, and not being hugged by her (the latter is brought up when Elizabeth hugs her governess and it feeling like a “maternal squeeze” that she dreamed her mother gave her); Elizabeth struggles with trusting others and wants to try to do better with that (including her wanting to show her love to her uncle and that “encompassed obedience, respect, and honor as well”); Elizabeth feels like she has to prove that she belongs with her uncle in his world and thinks once that she belongs in a dingy kitchen scrubbing pots instead; Elizabeth writes about a past event (being bullied) and realizes why people kept journals as she feels like she has “fully processed everything” she wrote down and could completely move on from it; A few mentions of books & authors (‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Willian Shakespeare, ‘Lady of the Lake’ by Sir Walter Scott); A few mentions of fairytales (Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, & Cinderella); A couple mentions of Elizabeth having anxiety and worry after her mother’s passing (which she tries to get rid of by reading story books).
Sexual Content- A bit of Dancing & Flutters; A couple blushes when Elizabeth is with a young man; Elizabeth notices two family members looking at her when she’s with a young man & tries not to think about what they could be thinking about; Elizabeth thinks that her uncle and a woman are in love (Elizabeth also reads a journal entry where her uncle recalled his heart which “stuttered like a fool’s” around the woman when she embraced him and his heart “leapt” when she kissed him on the cheek); Elizabeth considers what “romantic love might be like” but then shivers and thinks “No, I wasn’t ready for that yet. I was only fourteen, and I’d witness my mother’s disastrous, one-sided marriage and now knew about Uncle Jared’s incomplete love story. I’d wait as long as was necessary.”; Mentions of two adults being in love; Mentions of a woman being a traitor to her country and family for love (*Spoilers* A young woman helps a man by betraying her family and country because of love and runs away with him; In the Epilogue, it’s said that she sent a letter to her parents asking for forgiveness and saying that she deceived as well *End of Spoilers*); A couple mentions of reputations (and what would happen to a young woman being caught in a man’s bedroom, but she isn’t concerned about it); A mention of a friend of Elizabeth’s older brother being “annoyingly smitten with” her, much to her dismay;
*Note: Elizabeth tells a story to her younger siblings about a “young orphan girl” who had to sleep in alleyways until a kind stranger offered to help her and that as the girl “grew older and more beautiful”, the man fell in love with her and so they were married and lived happily ever after (Elizabeth’s younger sister who “had many romantic notions at the age of six” exhales happily at the end of the story); Elizabeth hasn’t seen her reflection except in soapy water or shiny pots, so when she sees herself clearly in a mirror, she wishes for the distorting sudsy water back and notices her thin face, larger than normal eyes, a tad too large nose, and her hair being a rat’s nest.
-Elizabeth Rawlins, age 13-14
1st person P.O.V. of Elizabeth (Prologue in Uncle Jared’s, 3rd person)
Set in 1813 (Epilogue in 1814)
316 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I was very excited to learn about this series as the books are regency upper-MG/lower YA! Those are very rare and something I always have to comment about when I come across one. Just even Historical YA—Christian Historical YA is hard enough to find! Add in spies and I was definitely intrigued by this series!
I was a little confused with all the different characters introduced, but tried to keep up with them all as best as I could. It was a little slow at times, but that’s probably because it was over 300 pages (which isn’t common for middle-grade books that I’ve seen). At some parts, it reminded me a bit of the “Mandie” series by Lois Gladys Leppard and even the “Elsie Dinsmore” series by Martha Finley, though, I’m not sure if that was just because of the curious young girl main character and a historical setting. I would definitely say that this Elizabeth is much less emotional than those other main characters, however! She has a good head on her shoulders to say the least and doesn’t let emotions control her actions.
I really liked Elizabeth and not only how respectful she was, but also her politeness and curiosity. There was a lot of faith content and Elizabeth reading the Bible which was nice to see, even if some of her thoughts seemed a bit grown-up for her—that could be because she’s had to grow up quicker than others due to family circumstances, though. Overall, I thought this was a cute story and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series and seeing everyone again!
See y’all on Friday 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 Author for this honest review.
