This is one of those times I judged a book by its cover. I saw shiny things and flowers and I thought, this is pretty and so it will be great. Not the case.
The Glittering Court is the first installment of what will be a series. Needless to say, I won't be reading further. I didn't hate the book, but it wasn't really what I expected. Set in almost colonial times, but in fictional England and fictional colonial America, the novel is centered around a girl named Adelaide; she has a fashionable title, and had her parents not made some poor choices with their money, she would have her choice of suitors, but she is broke, and options are limited. Adelaide's grandmother is out of property to sell, so therefore out of money, and Adelaide's only prospect is a distant cousin who is extremely boring and whose mother is extremely overbearing. Marrying him sounds about as appealing as having to count each individual strand of hair on your head. Adelaide finds an escape in The Glittering Court, though. This court takes servant girls, trains and educates them, teaches them about hair, fashion, and makeup, transports them to the new world (America-ish), and sells them off the the highest bidder. I know this was the plight of the female back in the day, but it is hard to stomach none-the-less. The drama of this book really unfolds in Adelaide having to keep her secret- no one can know that she is really a true and respected lady, not some random servant. Eventually, she comes across someone that knows, and she has to make some very difficult choices because of their knowledge. If I had to rate the book, it would maybe be a 3 out of 5 stars. Most of my struggle is really due to the poor treatment of women, not so much the book itself, though it ended with some political schemes brewing, so big stuff will probably happen in the sequels. I think only the ladies would enjoy it, but who knows.
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Note From Ms. PIt will probably come as no surprise that I am an avid reader. I have also been spending a lot of time in the Dawn Hodges Library here at WAAS evaluating what books we can add to have students really READING. Some of you already read on your own, which is great because reading opens your mind to new ideas and possibilities you might not otherwise think of. It helps you to imagine and live in a new world for a little while, which is something we all need sometimes. Archives
February 2019
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