Book Look Blogers Review: Sloane House



Several years ago I heard a story about my grandfather Len Neff biking all the way from Florida to Chicago for the World's Fair.  We have a coin purse her got there, and ever since then I have been really interested in reading about the World's Fair--even fiction.  It is for this reason that I chose to review Shelley Bray's "Sloane House" on Book Look Bloggers.  They sent me a free e-book and read it.



 

 

This book was a good read.  I was drawn into the story right away too because the gal in the story-Rosalind Perry--comes from a farm in Wisconsin (I am from Wisconsin too!) and she was a smart young gal who was searching for her sister Miranda who went missing while working at Sloane House near Chicago in 1893.  Rosalind gets a job as a housemaid at the same house (but doesn't let on that Miranda is/was her sister) and keeps her ears open for any news of what might have happened to her sister and a few other gals that go missing.  She quickly befriends Nancy (another maid) and they take a trip or two to the Chicago World's Fair.  Nancy and her eventually have a falling out and Roalind finds most of the staff at Sloane House to mostly be unfriendly and not forthcoming with informaiton. 

Rosalind does make a friend with a gentleman named Reid who is friends with the son of the house.  The son is a suspicious character who seems overly interested in the young maids at the house.  Rosalind worries he has something to do with Miranda's disappearace quite early on, but there is more to the story than his clandestine meetings with the maids.  Reid turns out to be a lifesaver for Rosalind when she finds herself suddenly on the street without a job

Towards the end of the book Christianity came into the story.  It felt out of place since I hadn't noticed much about religion until the end--I think it should have been woven in throughout or left out entirely, but maybe I just missed it.  It just felt like a clunky add it suddenly at the ned.  Otherwise I found it to be a compelling read and I was surprised a few times by the outcome of it all. 


*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. They did not require me to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”*