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    The Maid of Fairbourne Hall
    The Maid of Fairbourne Hall
    The Maid of Fairbourne Hall
    Audiobook16 hours

    The Maid of Fairbourne Hall

    Written by Julie Klassen

    Narrated by Elizabeth Jasicki

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    RITA finalist Julie Klassen has earned numerous awards for her popular historical romance novels. In The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, pampered Margaret Macy flees her home in London to avoid marrying a dishonorable man. Now, with no money and no place to stay, Margaret does the unthinkable: she takes a job as a housemaid in the home of two brothers- both of whom are former suitors. As an ''invisible'' observer, Margaret realizes she may have misjudged one brother and wonders if it's too late to win his admiration.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 6, 2012
    ISBN9781464038563
    Author

    Julie Klassen

    Julie Klassen (www.julieklassen.com) loves all things Jane--Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. Her books have sold more than 1.5 million copies, and she is a three-time recipient of the Christy Award for Historical Romance. The Secret of Pembrooke Park was honored with the Minnesota Book Award for Genre Fiction. Julie has also won the Midwest Book Award and Christian Retailing's Best Award and has been a finalist in the RITA and Carol Awards. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full-time. She and her husband have two sons and live in St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information, visit julieklassen.com.

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    Reviews for The Maid of Fairbourne Hall

    4.5/5

    47 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Im just wondering where my review of this book has gone. When I started it 2nd time around it sounded familiar another page in and I recognise this book as completed. Everand you are shameless restricting books and removing reviews do you think people are stupid and wont remember what they have read or listened to.
    • 5/5
      Julie Klassen has done it again! She creates such relatable characters and a storyline that draws you in from the start
    • 5/5
      Quite engaging. Loved the story and characters. Have listened to almost all of Julie Klassen's books. Elizabeth Jasicki is an excellent narrator.
    • 5/5
      A had a great time hearing and imagining the traits and customs of the 29th century British. A very inspiring and enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      Margaret Macy has found herself in a horrible situation. Only 3 months shy of inheriting a fortune, Margaret's step-father is insistent that she marry his nephew. When Margaret overhears just how far her step-father is willing to go to ensure the marriage takes place, she does something desperate. She runs away with her maid. Margaret is forced to hide as a servant in a large manor home. Not only does she have to hide her lack of knowledge of what maids do, she must hide her identity from the Upchurch family. Having once spurned one Upchurch brother for another, Margaret finds her situation to be even more desperate than before.I was excited to read this book, and I was not let down. It is filled with the period charm and drama that you would expect of a classic book. It is fun to watch Margaret Macy gradually change and learn to focus on other people. Learning the intricacies of the downstairs staff and their duties was so much fun! It really made me want to read more about how the staffs kept the houses running. There were so many things that had to be done; things I had never thought about before like emptying chamber pots. Margaret had clearly never considered these things either. As her empathy for the servants grew, she became a much more interesting character.This book is very fun and fairly quick to read. I found myself quickly absorbed in the story. There were a couple plot points I didn't see coming, so that was fun to discover what would happen. I really enjoy when a book can surprise me. This book has everything you could want-romance, mystery, and intrigue all wrapped in a fun period wrapper. I think this is a book a lot of people will enjoy. If you love historical novels with the feel of a great classic, then definitely check out this book!Book provided for review.
    • 5/5
      THE MAID OF FAIRBOURNE HALL by Julie Klassen is an interesting inspirational historical fiction set in 1815 London. I like the charactrr Margaret,how she was able to hide her identity and how sh managed to fine a job. The twist in this story makes you want to keep on reading. The author has done a wonderful job of bringing the characters to light. I would highly recommend thips book to everyone, you will not regret reading "The Maid Of Fairbourne Hall". A very good story. Received from Bethany House,a division of Baker Publishing Group for an honest review. Details can be found at the author's website,the publisher's website,and My Book Addiction and More.RATING: 5HEAT RATING: SWEETREVIEWED BY: DorothyA,My Book Addiction and More
    • 4/5
      I borrowed this from the local library after reading the synopsis. I like those Cinderella type stories and more if the girl is already rich but disguising to be not. I like that kind of conflict. This book was a surprise to me since I'm not really into Christian Fiction and even if this book did have the plot that I like, I never expected to finish it so fast because I was so into it. The story was a sweet read even though as a reader, I have read too many romance plots that it all seem so similar in the end. What was unexpected was that there were no malicious or scorching hot content AND it belongs to Christian Fiction. It's a very nice switch from all the YA reading.
    • 5/5
      Excellent look at life below stairs, and well researched. Klassen continues to deliver a well-planned plot, interesting characters, and a low key Christian message, in the style of Jane Austen.
    • 4/5
      n the Maid of Fairborne Hall by Julie Klassen, Margret Macy is used to being waited upon. She doesn't think twice about her lifestyle and all the perks that come with it. She lives with her mother and step-father in a lavish house. Her step-father is adamant in trying to get Margret to marry his nephew. Margret is uneasy about this union and after overhearing a distasteful plot to lure her into matrimony, her only course of action is to flee her home. Margret Macy leaves without hardly any comforts or money. Her only solution is to find a job and wait until she is of age to collect her inheritance. Margret is soon in the service of the home of Nathaniel and Lewis Upchurch. Margret has an infatuation with Lewis and Nathaniel had proposed and been rejected by Margret. Margret is spoiled. She doesn't know what a hard days work would look like. The phrases 'Please' and 'Thank You' rarely cross her lips. Through serendipitous circumstances she comes to work at Fairborne Hall as a maid. Margret has a rude awakening and quickly learns all the hard work the servants accomplish in one day. She also learns that people are not what they seem. She finds quite a few kindred spirits among her fellow workers. Over the course of a few months Margret learns things like humility, forgiveness, integrity and love. Though the work is hard, she also learns the value of friendship and camaraderie. Margret has real character growth in this novel. Julie Klassen is a long time fan of Jane Austen and Jane Eyre. If you'd combine the two Jane's you'd come out with The Maid of Fairborne Hall. This book is a well written, very interesting take on a riches to rags story. Klassen takes the life style of the 19th century English manor and gives a great look into the life of the people of downstairs. This is a great book to read and one that I'd highly recommend.
    • 4/5
      This novel borrowed elements from The Prince and the Pauper as well as Cinderella. Margaret Macy's father has passed and her mother is newly remarried. The stepfather mistakenly thinks the mother is coming into an inheritance but it is really going to be Margaret's money as soon as she turns twenty five. To correct the mistake the stepfather conspires to marry Margaret to his nephew. When she refuses to go along with his plans, he urges his nephew to go ahead and force the issue by raping here. Margaret overhears their discussion and escapes the house along with servant girl Joan who has just been dismissed from service because she has been blamed for the theft of some coins from the stepfather. The two girls end up at hiring fair and Margaret in disguise is taken in as a maid at Fairbourne Hall. Fairbourne Hall just happens to be the home of Nathaniel Upchurch, Margaret's former suitor who she threw over in order to pursue his never do well brother Lewis, who did not return Margaret's feelings. At first Margaret is a terrible maid since she has never done a hard days labor in her life. In fact when she was a lady she often acted spoiled and disregarded the feelings of her former maid Joan. As time goes on she gets a taste of her own medicine and learns the error of her ways. Margaret becomes a better employee and even starts to affect a positive change in the mood and appearance of Nathaniel sister's Helen. In time Margaret's opinion of Nathaniel changes as well and she sees him a more flattering light. Nathaniel has a lot of things on his mind besides his strange new maid who seems to do everything wrong. He is worried about the slaves on his father's plantation in Barbados as well as the poet pirate who has burned his ship and is after him for more money. Nathaniel and Margaret are at odds because of their past history but eventually God begins to work in their lives to draw them together.Although this is listed as a Christian book the message was not heavy handed. I would categorize this as more of a historical romance. The plot was a little predictable but it did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. Sometimes you just want to read something where you don't have to think too hard and this book fits that niche nicely. I enjoyed this enough to want to check out some of Julie Klassen's other books.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book. It was a good read and the characters were all very well done and likable. Although at first, I disliked Margaret. She wasn’t that likable in the beginning and acted more like a spoiled brat who took a lot of things for granted. However, Margaret also provided for the most developed character in the book and it was nice to see her grow and become a much better person. I enjoyed reading her experience as a housemaid (mostly comical, sometimes I felt sorry for her). The main couples ‘to be’ in this book suited each other very well. They were paired each other nicely, they sure had the chemistry all figured out but what was nice was when they were finally together. It made the ending of the novel a nice sweet one. The plot on the other hand was well done, I liked the amount of historical detail was made to make the plot much more authentic and realistic. I’m glad Julia Klassen took the time to make this book with as much historical detail as possible it made the reading experience much more fun. The only thing I didn’t like about the book was towards the end, the plot slowed a bit, and there was a mystery added that was interesting, but it just felt like it dragged the rest of the plot as well. However it did have a nice ending as I mentioned earlier and overall the book was good so I’d say this is just a minor issue.I’d recommend this to historical fiction lovers, the contrast between servant and high society is definitely mentioned and you follow Margaret in seeing the vast differences between the two. It’s most definitely worth the read.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the closer look at a servant's life. Margaret goes through a rather common transformation as she gets the chance to literally walk in someone doesn't shoes. There is the requisite misunderstandings common to romances but the story was well written and clean.