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Tuesday 12 February 2013

The Tutor's Daughter



Back Cover

Emma Smallwood, determined to help her widowed father when his boarding school fails, accompanies him to the cliff-top manor of a baronet and his four sons.  But soon after they arrive and begin teaching the two younger boys, mysterious things begin to happen.  Who does Emma hear playing the pianoforte at night, only to find the music room empty?  And who begins sneaking into her bedchamber, leaving behind strange mementoes?
 
The baronet’s older sons, Phillip and Henry Weston, wrestle with problems—and secrets—of their own.  They both remember the studious Miss Smallwood from their days at her father’s academy.  But now one of them finds himself unexpectedly drawn to her…
 
When suspicious acts escalate, can Emma figure out which brother to blame and which to trust with her heart?
 
Filled with page-turning suspense, The Tutor’s Daughter takes readers to the windswept Cornwall coast—a place infamous for shipwrecks and superstitions—where danger lurks, faith is tested, and romance awaits.

Review

Emma Smallwood, teased as a “bluestocking” by her peers, loves her books.  With no means to travel the world, she has her own adventures through the reading of travel diaries, or history books.  She’ll read almost anything, if for nothing else but to gain knowledge on a subject.  She thrives on assisting her father in educating the boys under his tutelage. 
 
One such boy, Phillip Weston, holds a special place in her heart.  He was always so kind to her while he and his brother Henry were attending Mr. Smallwood’s school.  The memory of Henry, on the other hand, only conjures up images of numerous pranks he pulled on her, or the merciless teasing against her and her love of books.
Now staying at the Westons’ residence, Emma is reluctant to realize that her heart has opened to one of the brothers.  She is forced to push that revelation aside, however, not only because she is a tutor’s daughter, and the Westons would never marry someone of her station, but also because of mysterious things that start occurring.  Several members of the household also appear to be withholding secrets, and potentially dangerous ones.  Something is amiss, and Emma is determined to get to the bottom of it.
 
Reading part like Jane Austen and part Liz Curtis Higgs, with a little Nancy Drew mystery thrown in, The Tutor’s Daughter is a winning novel.  It has all the wonderful moments of romance, the tingling sensations of mystery, and descriptions of beautiful scenery to imagine.  There were several twists and turns, and surprises that kept the story alive and exciting.  Many of the secrets I didn't find out until the very end, which inevitably, kept me in suspense for much of the novel!  I greatly enjoyed my own little adventure to the “windswept Cornwall coast”, and will be looking forward to Julie Klassen’s next novel. 


Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

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