Cinders & Sapphires

Gr 8 Up—As a proper young lady in the early 1900s, Lady Ada Averly dreams of attending Oxford College but, given the rules of polite society, she must find a suitable husband. Her father's military posting abruptly sends them from India back to England, and on the voyage home, she falls deeply in love with a young Indian man, despite the risk to her reputation and her family's social standing. The staff hurries to ready the family estate for the return of Lord Averly and his family, including a surprise new bride. Rose, a housemaid at the mansion for years, feels the stress in the house as the preparations continue. When the couple arrives, along with Lord Averly's wife's children, the tensions grow. Everyone, from the house staff to the family members, has secrets to keep, and Ada is not the only one involved in an inappropriate relationship. And once some of those secrets come out, the entire family's reputation is at stake. This period piece intertwines several different plotlines and includes a large, confusing cast of clichéd characters. Readers looking for a historical romance might enjoy the details of the clothes, the mansions, and the ins and outs of the lives of the different characters. The story resolves only a few of its many tangled plotlines, leaving readers waiting for the next book to get any answers.—Diana Pierce, Leander High School, TX