Review: The Girl in the Gatehouse

The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



From the back cover:
Banished from the only home she's ever known, Mariah Aubrey hides herself away in an abandoned gatehouse on a distant relative's estate. There she supports herself and her loyal servant the only way she knows how - by writing novels in secret.

When captain Matthew Bryant leases the estate, he is intrigued by the beautiful girl in the gatehouse. But there are many things he doesn't know about this beguiling outcast. Will he risk his plans - and his heart - for a woman shadowed by scandal?

I was surprised by how much I fell in love with this story and with the characters. There are a lot of things going on, but somehow the author ties them all together very well. Mariah is a compassionate person who takes an interest in the residents of the poorhouse across the street from her new home. She is also curious about the people she meets and about the mystery surrounding her aunts life. She is a romantic, writing novels in secret, while still struggling with her own troubled past. Unexpectedly, Captain Bryant moves into the great house on the estate and seems to be struggling with his own past as well...

This is a Christian historical fiction novel, but the religious aspects were more subdued than i expected, as compared with other Christian fiction I have read. Christian novels often run the risk of being too "preachy" and overwhelming for a lot of readers but this novel was really well done. I liked this book more than I thought I would. One of the things that I really liked is that the author lets the reader get a glimpse of all the different characters' stories. There's obviously a focus on the main characters, but I liked getting to know all of them and appreciated that the author took the time to tell each person's story.

Overall, this book is about love, friendship, broken hearts, forgiveness, and above all, its about hope and healing. I am anxious to read more of Julie Klassen's novels. I thoroughly enjoyed this heart-felt and inspiring story and would recommend it to those who like clean romance, historical fiction, and a little bit of mystery thrown in as well.

**Thank you to the publisher, Bethany House, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.




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