Jerelyn H. (I-F-Letty) - reviewed on 8/10/2011 + 73 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

I am always excited to find a new author to love, such is the case with P.B. Ryan.

The character driven story line with the streetwise Nell Sweeney who has come to the Cape Cod summer cottage of the wealthy Hewitt family with her employer Dr Greaves. A maid servant is giving birth and very likely might die if she doesn't have a risky c-section. With the child safely born and the mother's rejection of the child, Mrs. Hewitt who is still recovering from the loss of her eldest 2 sons at Andersonville the infamous Confederate prison camp, decides to adopt the maids child to assuage her grief. She also see something in Nell and asks Nell to come and care for the child as a nurse/governess.

So Nell leaves Dr. Greaves who has taught her all she knows but realizes that it is time for her to move on. At 25 and poor she has little to look forward to. At least this way she will have security, the opportunity to better herself, and the experience of loving and rearing a child. Grace is her sole focus for 3 years until the past come back to haunt the Hewitt family, and Mrs. Hewitt needs Nell to act in her stead to find out if what they think is true, is indeed true. Four stars.

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