About this book:
“A
forgotten letter. A secret love. A vast estate. Can one determined woman put
the pieces together?
Focused on a career in medicine and not on romance, Willa Duvall is
thrown slightly off course during the summer of 1865 when she discovers a
never-opened love letter in a crack of her old writing desk. Compelled to find
the passionate soul who penned it and the person who never received it, she
takes a job as a nurse at the seaside estate of Crestwicke Manor.
Everyone at Crestwicke has
feelings--mostly negative ones--about the man who wrote the letter, but he
seems to have disappeared. With plenty of enticing clues but few answers,
Willa's search becomes even more complicated when she misplaces the letter and
it passes from person to person in the house, each finding a thrilling or
disheartening message in its words.
Laced with mysteries large and small,
this romantic Victorian-era tale of love lost, love deferred, and love found is
sure to delight.”
Series: As of now, no. It is currently a stand-alone.
Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, read, & discussed; Many
Prayers; Many talks about God & His paths; ‘H’s are not capitalized when
referring to God; Many mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions
of churches, services, sermons, & vicars; Mentions of blessings, being blessed,
& curses; Mentions of miracles; A few mentions of sins & sinners; A couple
mentions of a tunnel that priests used to escape persecution; A couple mentions
of nuns; A mention of reading Scriptures;
*Note: Mentions of ghosts &
haunted place; A couple mentions of superstitions; A mention of exorcising a
sin.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘drat’; Falling & Pain (up to semi-detailed);
Many mentions of blood/bleeding, injuries, pain, fighting, & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed);
Mentions of a fire & death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of thieves,
thefts, & stealing; Mentions of threats & being threatened; Mentions of
jealousy, betrayal, & hatred; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip
& rumors; Mentions of an injured horse; A couple mentions of deaths &
wars; A couple mentions of prison; A couple mentions of throwing up; A mention
of pirates; A mention of embezzlement.
Sexual Content- a hair kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed
kiss, two detailed kisses (because of the length, not overly
emotional/physical), and seeing a married couple kiss (border-line barely-above-not-detailed
// semi-detailed); Noticing, Touches, Dancing, & Embraces (barely-above-not-detailed);
Thinking a spouse is having an affair & dealing with betrayal/doubt; Mentions
of an illegitimate duke & an out-of-wedlock pregnancy; Mentions of kisses,
kissing, & wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a married
couple sharing a bed, their forms, being vulnerable, & a wife noticing her husband
undressing (nothing sexual happens or alludes to happening); Mentions of scandals;
Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of infatuation; Mentions of romance novels; A few
mentions of hand kisses; A few mentions of touches; A few mentions of a player;
A couple hints of a girl possibly working as a prostitute; A couple mentions of
a young girl saying that girls can’t protect themselves from men who see something
they want & a couple hints to men behaving inappropriately; A couple
mentions of noticing; A couple mentions of flirting & blushes; A couple
mentions of chaperones; A mention of noticing a man’s muscles; Love, falling in
love, & the emotions;
*Note: Mentions of a couple losing
many babies; A mention of circumcision.
-Willa Duvall, age 24
1st
P.O.V. of Willa & 3rd P.O.V. of a handful of others
Set in 1865 {Though, I believe there to be a
typo about the last chapter’s year}
376 pages
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My goodness.
This was something so poetic and beautiful
in a somewhat bittersweet way in this book.
The concept of a sealed, hidden
letter intrigued me, but how this book did its own full circle was striking and
memorizing.
Willa and her parts remind me of
something out of Pride & Prejudice or Little Women in the
style of the poetic writing and thoughts from Willa. (It should be noted that I
have never read those books, but I’ve seen the movies many, many, many
times thanks to my mom and sister.) There was a hopefulness from her to go on
the path she felt like the Lord wanted her to be on. There was a society
telling her that her dream was not possible for her gender. There was a
goodness about Willa that I immensely enjoyed. There were so many lines or
conversations that I wanted to share. Especially in the faith content of this
book. I loved how two of the characters dear to Willa were so vocal about their
faiths & how talking about God was a completely normal part of their lives.
When I read a book, 95% of the time
my brain is trying to figure out how the plot will twist and what will happen
next. I don’t know why it does this, but there are very few books where my
brain turns off this lovely (sarcasm) feature. Reading a book where I just read
and follow the story along as we go through each curve as they are written on each
page is a rarity for me. But it’s also one of the highest compliments I can
give a book and one I give this to this book. I was truly impressed with so
many parts of this story and it’s definitely being marked as a favorite 2020
book.
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 Publisher (Revell) for this honest review.
