A Book to Stay Up All Night to Read

One of the dangers and joys of my life is that I work in a Christian bookstore.  The danger is that I will spend too much money on books.  The joy is that I usually know when good books are released.  That happened a couple of months ago when I spotted a new book on the shelf at our store.  I was innocently walking by the fiction section on my way to do something (I hope you don't expect that much detail) when I noticed a book that wasn't there the day before.  I grabbed it and put it someplace so I would remember to pay for it when I was leaving.  I knew I would read a good portion of it before I went to bed that very night.

The book was The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen.  I could hardly wait to read it because I had been so pleased with the author's previous books.  I was right.  This book is so good that I ended up staying up all night in order to finish it.  I just couldn't put it down.

The story begins in September of 1813 and finishes up just over a year later.  Mariah Aubrey has been sent from her home to live in an abandoned    gatehouse on the estate of an older relative.  When she and her companion, her former nanny, arrive her aunt refuses to see her.  The hurt and mystified Mariah begins to settle in at the gatehouse which isn't situated by the "real" gate but by an old gate that is no longer used, putting her residence in a somewhat secluded situation.  The closest lodging to her is the village poor house which is practically across the lawn from the gatehouse.

Not long after Mariah moves in her aunt dies, but not before she gives Mariah a locked chest and tells her she may open it after the aunt dies and she is to take it with her if she is forced to leave the estate after the aunt's death.  What could be in the mysterious chest that the aunt's stepson is so anxious to find?

How is Mariah to support herself?  Her father sent her away with some money but barely enough to get them established in the gatehouse.  With funds  depleted Mariah decides to try her hand as an authoress.  She has a story she wrote as a girl; she edits it and, with the help of her brother, is able to get it published, thus securing their situation for a few more months.

In the meantime, Hugh Prin-Hallsey, the new owner leases the estate to Captain Matthew Bryant, a naval officer who has recently been "paid off".  Mariah finds the captain very attractive but he has declared himself in love with and determined to win another woman, one who refused him once already.  Mariah is confused by his apparent attraction to her but reminds herself that his heart lies elsewhere.  She also constantly reminds herself that because of her unhappy past she must be very careful in her relationships with men.  She must not trust too easily and be led astray.  Again.

Mariah's companion, Miss Dixon, has never had a romance.  Now, it seems she may have two.  Who will win her heart?  The widowed gardener who brings her flowers and bulbs?  Or the manservant who was "left" to Mariah when her aunt passed away?  It seems unlikely Martin will be able to secure Dixon's affection because he begins with certain things against him:  a strange, herbal smell about his person, the fact he has a hook instead of one hand, and he dares to ask for salt for the food she cooks because he is accustomed to his food having a bit of "flavor".

Then there is the nearby poorhouse.  Mariah becomes acquainted with and quite attached to several of the inmates.  There are brother and sister, George and Lizzy Barnes.  Lizzy is too old to stay in the poorhouse but has been put "on staff" so she can be near her young brother.  There are the two aged twin sisters, Amy and Agnes.  One of them was sold into a "bawdy house" by her father when she was young.  Which one?  The cheerful, positive Amy?  Or the critical, discouraging Agnes?  And, how did they come here?  There is the little Maggie who sings like an angel but is very shy and runs away from Mariah when she sees her.  And, who in the world is the old man who goes up on the roof of the poorhouse but whom the other inmates have been instructed to know nothing about if asked?

The Girl in the Gatehouse has many questions that need to be answered.  The characters are believable.  Their stories show real human nature.  One of the things I loved about this book is that while reading it I kept discovering more and more.  I didn't have to read through pages and pages of descriptions (which I don't like) but rather, each page was filled with action or conversation that moved the story along at a good clip.  Julie did a really good job of clarifying jumps in time from one scene to the next.  I don't have much patience with books whose ending I know before I get there.  This book, more than any I've read in a long time, kept me on the edge of my seat and wondering what this or that outcome would be.  There were some things that it was pretty obvious would happen but such stumbling blocks got in the way that I didn't know how the problems would be resolved.  I LOVED this.  LOL

If you like Jane Austen's books you will absolutely love this book.  I do not make such bold statements easily.  The Girl in the Gatehouse is filled with Jane Austen quotes, Jane Austen illusions, Jane Austen references.  The book has characters who "shadow" characters in Jane's books.  There are names names from Jane's books:  Mariah, Henry, Crawford, and Lizzy, of course.  The book is sprinkled with quotes from Jane's books as well as from her personal letters, as well as from other writers of the time.

I will leave you with one quote from the book. This is, as far as I can remember, Julie's thought, not Jane's. But it sounds so Jane Austen-ish that I laughed out loud when I first read it.  And did so again when I re-read it today.  I love the quote.  Captain Bryant and his friend, Mr. Hart have taken a picnic outside and are sitting under a tree, reading two of the latest novels from London.  When Mariah approaches them Mr. Hart says:  "Miss Aubrey, come and have pity on us.  We are reading novels and feel our manliness diminishing by the moment.  Come restore our vanity, do, and tell use we look the dashing officers we once were."

Happy reading