The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen

Emma Smallwood and her father ran a small boys boarding school for a number of years. Now with the decline in enrollment it appears the school is destined to close. A letter from a former student’s father has them moving to the estate to tutor his younger sons. The older sons return home for a visit and the calm life of the estate becomes interesting. Who plays the piano late in the night? Who has been sneaking into Emma’s room during the night and leaving messages? As children, one of the older brothers had played pranks on Emma so was he the mysterious one?  Then there was the question of why part of the house was declared off limits to Emma. Was there a secret the family didn’t want her to know about?

Having previously read The Girl in the Gatehouse, I wasn’t surprised when Julie introduced events that gave The Tutor’s Daughter a new twist. I enjoy Julie Klassen’s books and will gladly pick up any of them for a time of enjoyable, captivating reading.

I received this book to review for free from Bethany House.

A Clearing in the Wild by Jane Kirkpatrick

Part historical fact and part fiction, I found A Clearing in the Wild an interesting book that is based on the move of a religious communal group led by Wilhelm Keil from Bethel, Missouri to Washington in the 1850’s. A bit of a history buff myself, I did a little research on this group and found they were similar in some aspects to a group who founded the Amana Colonies in Iowa. It seems German communal groups were not uncommon during this time in our history.

Emma is an outspoken young woman who finds it difficult to assume the role assigned to her, that of a demure, quiet woman who does not speak out and follows the dictates of her father, husband or leader. When a group of men is selected to scout out new territory in Washington, she begins a campaign to go along. Newly married, Emma and Christian have spent more time separate than together due to Wilhelm’s various jobs for Christian. She argues that she can cook for the men, take care of them when they are sick, do their laundry and be with her husband so they may be a family. The leader reluctantly agrees and allows her to travel with them. A Clearing in the Wild is the story of that journey, the hardships and triumphs of finding choice land that they can build on and begin a new colony. Jane Kirkpatrick has done an excellent job of allowing us to take this journey with the scouts and experience the triumphs and heartaches they faced. Even when Wilhelm declared the land they chose as undesirable, Emma convinces Christian that God did not make a mistake and there is a future for them in the land that will allow them to fulfill the godly principles their group held sacred.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review