“The Secret of Pembrooke Park” Book Review

Dec 29, 2014 by Rachel

Welcome back to Rachel’s Back Talk! I’m so glad you could join me again. Today I am reviewing Julie Klassen’s newest release, The Secret of Pembrooke Park. Julie’s writing inspires me and I look forward to each of her releases with anticipation!

 

As is my custom, if I could ask Julie one question about The Secret of Pembrooke Park, it would be — “Did you ever get confused when writing the different story lines?” And if you want to know why I asked that question, I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out!

 

And without further ado, on to Rachel’s Back Talk!

 

                                                                   

 

From the Back Cover:

Abigail Foster is the practical daughter. She fears she will end up a spinster, especially as she has little dowry, and the one man she thought might marry her seems to have fallen for her younger, prettier sister.

Facing financial ruin, Abigail and her father search for more affordable lodgings, until a strange solicitor arrives with an astounding offer: the use of a distant manor house abandoned for eighteen years. The Fosters journey to imposing Pembrooke Park and are startled to find it entombed as it was abruptly left: tea cups encrusted with dry tea, moth-eaten clothes in wardrobes, a doll’s house left mid-play…

The handsome local curate welcomes them, but though he and his family seem acquainted with the manor’s past, the only information they offer is a stern warning: Beware trespassers drawn by rumors that Pembrooke Park contains a secret room filled with treasure.

This catches Abigail’s attention. Hoping to restore her family’s finances–and her dowry–Abigail looks for this supposed treasure. But eerie sounds at night and footprints in the dust reveal she isn’t the only one secretly searching the house.

Then Abigail begins receiving anonymous letters, containing clues about the hidden room and startling discoveries about the past.

As old friends and new foes come calling at Pembrooke Park, secrets come to light. Will Abigail find the treasure and love she seeks…or very real danger?

 

Rachel’s Back Talk:

5 – award winning covers!

I LOVED this book! This book reminded me so much of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, but with a Julie Klassen style. It truly was magnificent.

 

Abigail was a heroine that you didn’t typically meet. She wasn’t beautiful (or so she thought) and she made a mistake, even though she was thought to make sound decisions. She was often left to fend for herself and wasn’t pampered like her sister. By the end of the book, I was so glad to see how Abigail changed. She started thinking better about herself and not just what she thought people thought about her.

 

Then there was the whole Pembrooke family drama. I must say, that really made the book! This was one mystery that was not predictable and I couldn’t wait to find out what it was. Once I got to the conflict, there was NO WAY I could put the book down without finding out how it was all resolved. And I thought it was a perfect ending!

 

Other books by Julie’s that I will read next:

The Apothecary’s Daughter

The Girl in the Gatehouse

Lady of Milkweed Manor