An Unlikely Suitor

Giveaway!

MOSER, NANCY
AN UNLIKELY SUITOR

Spend a season in glamorous 1895 Newport in this compelling tale of friendship, devotion, and sacrificial love.

New York dressmaker Lucy Scarpelli befriends socialite Rowena Langdon as she's designing her summer wardrobe. Grateful for Lucy's skill in creating fashions that hide her physical injury, Rowena invited Lucy to the family mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, encouraging the unusual friendship.

One day Lucy encounters an intriguing man on the Cliff Walk, and love begins to blossom. Yet Lucy resists, for what Newport man would want to marry an Italian dressmaker working to support her family?

Rowena faces an arranged marriage to a wealthy heir she doesn't love, but dare a crippled girl hope for anything better?

And Lucy's teenage sister, Sofia, falls for a man well above her social class -- but is he willing to give up everything to marry a woman below his station?

As the lives of three young women -- and their unlikely suitors -- become entangled in a web of secrets and sacrifice, will the season end with any of them finding true happiness?

My Review:

My first Nancy Moser book -- but by no means my last!

This is the kind of historical novel you just want to settle into and savor. Moser has done her research and has crafted a stunning tale that takes place during the Gilded Age. Her vivid descriptions (especially the lush fashion details) create a genuine feel for the era.

The author takes on class boundaries which I found fascinating even though at times it appalled and enraged me. I think what struck me the most is that the wealthy who are so determined to keep the lower classes in their place are, in actual fact, no more than a generation away from being poor immigrants looking for a new start in America. You would think that they would remember their parents' struggles and would have learned from them. Instead they seemed to want to create a distance from their past and they did that by class distinction. This made An Unlikely Suitor an emotional read for me. It's a spellbinding story that follows the lives of three young women as they struggle to find their place in a changing world -- and someone to love them for who they are not what they represent. This is a definite book for your keeper shelf.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

If you would like a chance to win your own copy of An Unlikely Suitor leave a comment below. The draw will take place on Sunday May 22. Good luck everyone!