Manor of Secrets by Katherine Longshore

Title: Manor of Secrets
Author: Katherine Longshore
Publication Date: January 28, 2014
Rating: 3 Stars

The year is 1911. And at The Manor, nothing is as it seems...

Lady Charlotte Edmonds: Beautiful, wealthy, and sheltered, Charlotte feels suffocated by the strictures of upper-crust society. She longs to see the world beyond The Manor, to seek out high adventure. And most of all, romance.

Janie Seward: Fiery, hardworking, and clever, Janie knows she can be more than just a kitchen maid. But she isn't sure she possesses the courage -- or the means -- to break free and follow her passions.

Both Charlotte and Janie are ready for change. As their paths overlap in the gilded hallways and dark corridors of The Manor, rules are broken and secrets are revealed. Secrets that will alter the course of their lives. . . forever. - Summary from Goodreads

                This is historical fiction that feels like you’re in that time period, not like the year was just chosen for the heck of it. All the little details of everyday life make it special. It is duel narrated so as the reader we are able to experience both the “upstairs world” where the family of the house lives, and the “downstairs world” where the servants are.

                I found the downstairs world more interesting because it had more things happening and interesting interactions between the servants. I really liked Janie, she’s a hardworking kitchen maid whose dream is to one day be a cook. One of the best things about her is that she’s not jealous of anyone around her, including Charlotte, she knows where her place in the world is and all she has ever wanted to be is a cook. She doesn’t want more and she doesn’t need more. Janie is also incredibly kind, practically saint-like, when dealing with Charlotte.

                Charlotte is not a cruel or stuck up character, she’s actually really sweet and it was fun to see her experience the downstairs world and interacting with the servants who have always been in her house, but she has never seen. But Charlotte is clueless and Janie has to pay for it on multiple occasions and in multiple ways. Charlotte might on some level realize that maybe she shouldn’t have done that (whatever “that” was) but she is never aware of how much Janie takes because of her. All the while Janie is being the most perfect friend in the world while listening to Charlotte grip about how terrible her life is. In Charlotte’s defense she does realize that it probably sounds stupid to Janie, but Janie is the only person she feels she can talk to so she lets everything out.

                Both are trapped by the expectations of how to act, where to be, and who to talk to. Although it is Charlotte’s house she is forbidden from going downstairs, and although Janie has lived there for four years she cannot go upstairs. Both worlds have their own hierarchy and rules and both of the characters pay for it when they break those rules. I like that it showed the problems that came with both lives instead of only focusing on one, but I hated the fact that Charlotte made Janie’s life harder for her.

                Overall I liked the setting, world, and (mostly) the characters, but Charlotte’s cluelessness ruined it for me, and I felt like the ending itself was a little too perfect. 

                          -Christina

Brazen by Katherine Longshore

Title: Brazen
Author: Katherine Longshore
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Publication Date: June 12, 2014
Rating: 4 Stars

Mary Howard has always lived in the shadow of her powerful family. But when she’s married off to Henry Fitzroy, King Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, she rockets into the Tudor court’s inner circle. Mary and “Fitz” join a tight clique of rebels who test the boundaries of court’s strict rules with their games, dares, and flirtations. The more Mary gets to know Fitz, the harder she falls for him, but is forbidden from seeing him alone. The rules of court were made to be pushed…but pushing them too far means certain death. Is true love worth dying for?-Summary from Goodreads

I fell in love with this book right from the beginning and I read the whole thing in about 6 or 7 hours. Considering it’s a 500 page book I think I did pretty darn good. On the other hand, this review took me 3 or 4 days to write so maybe it’s not so impressive.

Brazen follows the story of Mary Howard who marries Henry ‘Fitz’ Fitzroy, Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, in the first chapter. While the young couple are married it is in name only, and they are not allowed to spend time together alone. Mary decides she wants to get to know Fitz and that is when things begin. Their romance is sweet and awkward which is refreshing change to the normal political alliances of the Tudor court. Mary believes she loves him, but at the same time she wonders if love even exists. All she knows is her parents abusive marriage and the constant adultery that is committed at court. She holds up Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s marriage as true love, but we all know how that ends.

This book takes place towards the end of Anne Boleyn’s time as Queen. While you don’t need to read Tarnished to understand Brazen, they do act as part 1 and part 2 of Anne’s life. I really enjoyed the little nods here and there to things that had happened earlier in Tarnished.

Mary’s partners in crime are her friends Madge and Margaret (Henry VIII’s niece). Whenever those three are on the page together it shows that although hundreds of years have passed teenage girls haven’t changed. They help Mary navigate court life while also finding their own way and causing scandal themselves.

I love the Tudor era; all the scandal and intrigues of court. The people who lived in King Henry VIII’s court were playing a dangerous game and always had to be on their guard. I like to compare courtiers to spies, one of the many things they have in common is that the only way to stay alive is to leave the game. While trying to live up to the expectations of her family and the rules set by royalty Mary Howard tries to find some form of freedom for herself.

My favorite thing about Katherine Longshore’s novels is how she manages to capture the time period so perfectly. You can tell when reading her books that she researched a lot, but unlike some historical fiction Brazen does not get bogged down by the facts, it has heart and never gets dull. Brazen is the perfect combination of historical fact and creative license.

     -Christina