Okay, it's confession time. Apparently I am not a natural blogger, because I just found this book review in my "draft" area, dated 6-14. Oops! I discovered that I never published the post after I wrote it up. Uh....yeah. Well, anyway, here is my review of God's Handmaiden by Gilbert Morris....it's just a few (several) weeks late. ;)
After her mother dies, 15 year old Gervase is sent to live with her Aunt and Uncle who are servants at a large English house for the Wingate family. There she takes a position helping her aunt in the kitchen, and eventually moves up to higher positions in the household. After a couple years a situation arises that causes her to want a change in life, so she answers an employment ad that seeks a maid and companion for Miss Florence Nightingale. (Yes, THE Florence Nightingale!) Under Miss Nightingale, Gervase ends up acquiring nursing skills and works right alongside Florence in treating soldiers wounded in the Crimean War. After the war, Gervase's skills are needed when someone from her past needs care, forcing her to face the Wingate family and the life she ran from years before. I could easily go further with a summary because there is so much more that happens, but I'll stop here as I don't want to reveal any more....
Gervase is a very likeable character, and her attachment to her cat, Mr. Bob, endeared her to me even more as it's something I can completely identify with. Human-animal bonds aren't featured enough in most fiction, so I really appreciated Gervase's attachment to Mr. Bob. I was also really drawn to the character of Davis Wingate, I immediately liked him. He was so sweet to Gervase from the moment she arrived at the house, even though she was only a servant. His character seemed so real and was portrayed so excellently that I was actually saddened as he went through difficulties in his life.
Gilbert Morris really has a knack for writing for female characters; the emotions and thoughts that Gervase has are completely genuine. If I didn't know better, I'd say Gervase's character had been written by a female, she is that authentic! Being a female, I can't judge the male characters quite as well, however they too seemed very authentic. (Most of the books I read have female authors, but somehow I always feel that male characters are more authentic when written by a man.) It's not very common to find an author that can write with such authenticity for BOTH genders, but Gilbert Morris definitely has an excellent and impressive handle on both.
I very much enjoyed God's Handmaiden, and I was sorry when I finished it and had to move on to a different book. I completely recommend it; it's truly an excellent story. Check it out, you won't be sorry!
My Rating: 5 stars
If you have a kindle you can download the first chapter of God's Handmaiden for free at Amazon.
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