Masquerade (Gilded Age, #1)

by Nancy Moser

Eighteen eighty-five, New York City. Charlotte Gleason, a rich heiress from London, travels to America to escape her tedious life by marrying the even wealthier Conrad Tremaine. Deciding, however, that an arranged marriage is not for her, she arranges for her maid, Maureen, to take her place. What begins as the whim of a spoiled rich girl wanting adventure becomes a test of survival amid poverty beyond Charlotte's blackest nightmares. As for Maureen, she lives a fairy tale complete with a prince-yet tormented by a wicked mother-in-law-to-be. Will their masquerade be discovered? Or will one of them have second thoughts? There is no guarantee the switch will work. It's a risk. It's the chance of a lifetime.

• ISBN10: 0764207512
• ISBN13: 9780764207518
• Publish Date: 1 August 2010
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 10 April 2014
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Imprint: Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[cherryblossommj]

A few years ago I was introduced to the writing of Nancy Moser through one of her historical women series in Just Jane. I loved that novel page one to end. I did not love this novel, but overall I liked it. The hardest part for me in liking Masquerade was one of the main characters and her personality. She would flip back and forth from one area of thought to the next and she infuriated me with how selfish, spiteful and arrogant she was. So many things she just did not get, and I felt that she was still that way in the end with no lesson learned and still going out for what she wanted above all else. Another issue I had was another character with similar attributes and once you thought that she was befriended, she pulled out the stops with hostility. It was confusing and a bit hard to keep up with whether "today would be a friendly day or not".

All and all it is a good story. It has some feminist tones about the main issues of life in the New York Gilded Age that are great to read on a page and see in action. There are also wonderful historical pieces that draw such a vivid picture that both make you want to see it for your self and also make you glad for the changes in the way things are now. I completely get the vibe where in the author's note, Nancy says that "it was like combining The Prince and the Pauper, Titanic" and others. I could see those and feel them come from the page.

At the end of the book, not only do you get some great discussion questions, but also a very neat section on The Fashion of Masquerade and Fact or Fiction in Masquerade. Very neat and perfect for a reading group.


*Thanks to Bethany House for providing a copy for review through the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance.*