Reviewer: Amy Lignor
Title: Emily Hudson
Author: Melissa Jones
Publisher: Viking
ISBN-13: 978-0-670-02180-2 (Hardcover)
Release Date: September 2010
Genre/Sub-genre: Historical Fiction
Year/Setting: Civil War 1860’s/New York, London, and Paris
Overall Rating: 5.0
Sexual Content Rating: None/Subtle
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: None
Violent Content Rating: None/Minimal
Melissa's Website/Blog: www.twbooks.co.uk/authors/melissajones.html
Dear Readers:
As a huge fan of this time period in literature, I was truly excited to receive this wonderful book set during the Civil War. Not only was I excited about the story, I was absolutely enamored with the well-written characters that Ms. Jones introduces in this excellent novel that is loosely inspired by a "moment" in the real life of Henry James.
We begin with a very brief prologue set in London in 1863. A man boards a ship carrying dresses made of the finest silks and lace that money can buy, and throws them overboard.
Soon readers are taken into the world of Emily Hudson. Emily is one of those fantastic people who live life to the fullest. Not only is she extremely smart, but she has a carefree style about her and a thirst for life that makes everyone who meets her long to be her friend. Well…almost everyone. A letter has been sent to Emily’s Uncle from the high-brow girls’ school that she’s been attending. The letter advises him that Emily simply cannot behave and has become best friends with the daughter of a very prominent man. The letter states that this girl, coming from such a good family, is highly impressionable and the only way to save this girl is to eject Emily from the school.
Emily soon arrives at her Uncle’s seaside summer home. She has no choice but to stay with him and his family, seeing as that Emily is an orphan – losing her parents at a young age, not to mention her sibling. Her Uncle makes it quite clear that Emily must stop reading, letting her know that too much study is extremely bad for young ladies who should just be learning how to sew and take care of a man. He wants Emily to conform to all his rules so that he can possibly, one day, find Emily a husband and get her out of his home.
While at the seaside, Emily does make friends with William, her cousin. William is one of three brothers; while the other two brothers are off getting ready to enter the war, William is a bit sickly and spends all of his time writing stories and yearning to go to Europe where he will become the next Shakespeare. Not only is William a huge fan of Emily, but he also is her only friend. His sister, Mary, is a bit of an uptight New Englander just like their parents, and when she arrives at the house she, too, can’t seem to stand the "freeness" and energy that leaks out of Emily’s pores.
Our story wraps itself around Emily like a wonderful quilt of characters that readers won’t soon forget. We are with her as she speeds off to London, where William seems to change right before Emily’s eyes from the caring cousin, into an overbearing "master" who wants his "muse" to be as close to him as possible. We are also taken to the wonderful world of Rome, where Emily’s penchant for art turns into a career. Not to mention, the letters that go back and forth between Emily and her long-lost school friend, as well as a fighting soldier by the name of Captain Lindsay who she finds herself in love with, inject the story with even more romance and adventure.
The author, Ms. Jones, does a fantastic job of presenting the Old World as well as the New to her readers. Almost at once I buried myself in the pages and fell in love with the freedom and independence that flows from the main character. There is no doubt that every reader will root for Emily to become the person she wants to become, and have a future that she longs for, without having to take a backseat to the men who wish to take charge of everything she does. From the scenery to the "life lessons taught," this author truly knows her subject. Great Job!
Until next time,
Amy
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