Serabelle: Where the Wealthy Come to Play by Tavi Taylor Black (TLC Book Tours)

 

What trees are flowering near you?  We have beautiful flowering pink trees in Northeast Wisconsin right now, but I am not sure what they are.  My lilacs are now in bloom.

In Maine, rich people have built mansions that they visit during the summer to get away from the City in the early twentieth century.  Serabelle is a beautiful cliffside “cottage.”  The Hunt family spends their summers at the estate.  Mr. Hunt and Mrs. Ainsworth-Hunt both came from wealthy families and married to combine their fortunes.  Now in their middle age, they find they have nothing in common, but can mostly keep apart in their large home.  Mabel is a young teenage maid starting her job at Serabelle, and she has quickly caught the eye of Mr. Hunt.  As their affair heats up, and family squabbles come to head, will Mabel be able to get the life that she deserves?

My thoughts on this book:

·       I loved the Downton Abbey in America feel to this book.  I always love it when we get an intertwined story of the rich family as well as the servants who live on the estate.

·       I felt bad for poor naïve Mabel and the choices she must make after she discovers she is pregnant with Mr. Hunt’s child.  It made me wonder how many “arranged marriages” there were back in the day to cover up pregnancies by a married man.

·       There was also an interesting subplot involving Mr. Hunt’s jewels that shines a light on the families disfunction.

·       There were many storylines between the family members, the servants, and the interactions between the family members and servants.  They all came together to a stunning conclusion.

·       I really loved one character and I was shattered by their death at the end of the novel.

·       The descriptions of Serabelle and Maine were beautiful.  It made me want to visit.

·       I enjoyed the themes of inequality, suffrage, and socioeconomic class divide that were throughout the novel. 

·       The author’s grandmother worked as a cook for an estate in Maine.  I thought that was very interesting in the acknowledgements at the end of the novel.

Overall, Serabelle was an atmospheric story with great characters and setting. I enjoyed reading it.  I would recommend it for those that like me enjoyed Downtown Abbey, The Gilded Age, or the novels of Edith Wharton.

Book Source:  Review copy from author Tavi Taylor Black as part of the TLC Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.