Sarah Cummings has one goal in life--to break into Chicago's high society. Desperate to stop serving dinner and to start eating at society tables, Sarah alters cast-off gowns from the wealthy Banning women to create lustrous, flattering dresses of her own. On a whim at a chance meeting, she presents herself as Serena Cuthbert, weaving a fictitious past to go with her fictitious name. But as she gets closer to Simon Tewell, the director of St. Andrew's Orphanage, Sarah finds that she must choose between the life she has and the life she dreams of. Will she sacrifice love to continue her pretense? Or can Simon show her that sometimes you don't have to pretend for dreams to come true?
Olivia Newport brings us back to Prairie Avenue to explore the place where class, social expectations, and romance come together. Readers will enjoy following the intrepid Sarah as she searches for true love in a world of illusions.
I just finished this one, and I really didn't expect to like it. Let me rephrase that. I love the writing of Olivia Newport. This series, she is a new-to-me author but keeps me up all night reading with interest to her characters and the plot. The situations right on the brink of change are so fascinating that I just-have-to-know what will come next. Lucy Banning, the main character of the first novel was delightful from paragraph one. Charlotte Farrow was mysterious, but friendly and elegant for a maid from the first chapter. When I met Sarah in earlier novels I despised her. She was just one of those characters that you wish would get what they deserved. Just move on to another house and leave the pleasant novel to better other characters. So knowing that this was her novel in the series I was seriously concerned. I did not expect to like it at all.
Oh but I did. Sarah is so frustrating. But Lillie makes it palatable. Simon was a fabulous character and this novel truly made me wonder if things would work out in a typical fashion or if she would ride off in the sunset in a way she wanted, and something else would be the happy point of the novel. I truly didn't know and many things surprised me.
Olivia is a excellent storyteller and without a doubt I'll be delighted to read her further novels. Sarah was an interesting character and those that made you come around to route for them and maybe even like them, now that is complex and interesting and makes for a page turner.
Thanks to Revell Books for providing a copy for review.
This will be posted to CreativeMadnessMama.com and www.ChristianHIstoricalFiction.com.
posted: http://creativemadnessmama.com/blog/2013/09/16/the-invention-of-sarah-cummings/
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Reply:
"The time frame moves forward 3 years to 1896. Sarah Cummings is now 19 and determined to leave her past as a maid behind and break into high society. Charlotte and Lucy are back of course. Sarah is going to have to make some choices about who she understands herself to be and what she really wants from her life."
On Sat, Feb 2, 2013 at 5:04 PM, wrote:
I heard a rumor that Prairie Avenue #3 will be The Invention of Sarah Cummings. Can you give me any more info?
Reading updates
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Started reading
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14 September, 2013:
Finished reading
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14 September, 2013:
Reviewed