The Girl in the Gatehouse

A wonderful story full of intrigue and mystrey and many twits and turns in the plot which, I can assure you, you will not expect! It kept me hooked the whole time and I read far too late into the night to finish it -I just had to know what was going to happen!It had more serious themes running through it than the Silent Governess (with talk of mistresses and the heroine herself landed in the Gatehouse due to the loss of her virtue.) However, it was a great story and still had a lot of humour. There are many points which reminded me of Mansfield Park by Jane Austen; Mariah's story herself is almost something like the Maria of Mansfield Park would face after her involvement with Henry Crawford. However, the Mariah in this story is a lot more likeable!There were some wonderful characters, aside from the dashing hero, and many side plots, which all link together in some way or another, which you will enjoy reading about and seeing develop through the story (notably that of the heroes friend, a Mr Hart and a certain young lady as well as the heroines companion, a Miss Dixon and two gentleman both vying for her attention, a Mr Phelps and a Mr Martin.)If you want a wonderfully intriguing mystery (which you cannot guess what is going to happen) and which is set in beautiful England during the fascinating regency era than you can never go wrong with a novel by Julie Klassen. I cannot wait to lose myself in her next novel...

she manages to get back on her feet by secretly writing novels. I would have liked it better if mention there were less mention of god, which felt contrived and intruded on the smooth flow. Is this an “inspirational” romance?

1st book I have read by this author and enjoyed it immensely, would recommend it to anyone. Have now bought further titles from Julie Klassen.

I have given this book two stars only because it did keep me just interested enough to finish it. From the moment Mathew Bryant appeared on the scene it was so obvious what was going to happen. Also the maidservant found the love of her life. Mathews friend found his. Everyone was neatly paired up. The little girl was rescued and adopted by one of the couples. A really sloppy story but I did finish it.

I have to say this book was really not the best! I kept reading it in the hope of it improving! And I am most surprised that this novel was a bit dull and lifeless as Klassen's other books have been gripping! Eg the silent governess, lady of milkweed manor, the apothecarys daughter were superb! I would not recommend this book sadly.

The book arrived in good condition and within th time schedule so I have no copmplaints about the service. However I do think this work is not up to the same standard as Julie Klassen's earlier works.

I am still in the process of reading the book but to date do not find it as good as the previous 2 novels I have read.

This is my third Julie Klassen book and it appears that it's been over a year since I read one of her novels. Why did I wait so long?! I love Julie's style of writing. It's easy to read, yet still evokes the time period and setting perfectly. I sped through this book in just a couple of days, and although the plot wasn't very fast paced, there was plenty to keep my interest.The subject of female writers in the early 19th century naturally interested me as I've studied a lot of literature and history from this time period, and even did a special study on the publication history of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey in my penultimate year of university. Being a writer and a woman in this period was difficult--even though it was one of the few respectable careers open to women at this time--and Julie captures that perfectly with Mariah's story.As with Julie's other novels, her hero and heroine are surrounded by a cast of intriguing and well-developed secondary characters. I think Martin and Dixon were my favourites, but the inmates of the local poorhouse were also incredibly endearing. The relationship between Mariah and her former nanny was so sweet, and depicted the close bonds that some children formed with their caregivers at this time. Even if Mariah had been abandoned by her family, Dixon stuck with her.As with a lot of books from this time period, the topic of virtue and reputation featured, especially as Mariah had apparently lost both. Sometimes books can go a little overboard with this topic, and I find them lacking in any grace or forgiveness, and worry about the message this presents to modern-day readers. This book didn't fall into that trap, and even impressed me with the way it gently pointed out that a man was equally to blame for Mariah's loss of reputation--and that it was unfair for her to be saddled with all the responsibility. This wasn't a major part of the book, but this little detail was much appreciated.Honestly, I don't really have any major problems with this book. There were a few points (especially towards the end) when parts of the plot felt like they were drawn out a little too much, but otherwise this was a very enjoyable, easy read that kept my attention all throughout. I'll definitely be making an effort to read more from Julie Klassen this year.