Mariah Aubrey has gotten herself into a predicament. When she leaves her home to live in the gatehouse on her wealthy aunt’s estate with her faithful friend and house servant Dixon, the reader has no idea why.
Her aunt’s death a few months later leaves Mariah with just an old trunk of memories, and a cousin breathing down her neck to get at them. She spends her time secretly writing novels for publication that her family would never approve of.
The estate’s new tenant, a retired military man, is dashing, but not quite available as he is pining away for a woman who has refused his advances. Besides, Mariah’s memories hint at a dishonor she feels she can never overcome.
The nearby poorhouse reveals further mystery as a certain old man is seen walking on the roof talking madly to himself and sometimes using a spyglass to peer in at the two women in the gatehouse. The two often wonder if the poorhouse will be their next home. Mariah and Dixon continue to scrape by, barely able to pay the rent on the gatehouse, until a publisher finally accepts Mariah’s work.
Just when all the plotlines are tangling to a dizzying mess, Klassen deftly ties them into a satisfying end. This book has all the elements of mystery, and romance with a bit of humor. I found it smooth reading, and a bit predictable, but still wanted to keep reading to see how it played out.
I received a complimentary copy of The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen from Bethany House Publishers in return for my honest opinion.
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