2012 book 354

T.J. Brown's Summerset Abbey
I have to be at least a little bit cynical and assume that this book is trying to get in on the Downton Abbey craze, but I would still wholeheartedly recommend it to fellow DA fans. It's set a little earlier, in Edwardian England (the first decade of the 1900s), but has similar themes of young ladies chafing for new freedoms and lots of great stuff about the class divide. That's actually a prominent plot point, as the book mainly focuses on Prudence, daughter of a governess who was raised as basically a sister to the two girls of the house, especially after the death of her mother. When their father dies, the two girls are forced to move into their uncle's home--and Prudence is only welcome as their ladies' maid. Of course there's a big dark secret about her parentage that takes too long to reveal and is pretty obvious to the reader, but there's still a lot to like here--the three girls are all interesting characters, particularly Prudence, and my fascination with the upstairs/downstairs clash never does seem to die. A nice, quick, fun read, could be a good YA crossover (though I don't think is being marketed as YA). This is actually the first of a series, with the next one due out in March. A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on January 15th.