This was a good enough read-- I liked the second half much more. At times I felt like considering Emma was supposedly a "bluestocking" and so smart, she was presented as a real idiot at times (e.g., her speech). Henry was wonderful, albeit typical. There are two surprises in this book that you don't really see coming, which may be why I liked this enough to keep going-- otherwise I would probably have stopped reading it early on. Emma Smallwood is a young woman who has been helping her father with teaching at his small academy in Longstaple, England. He is still struggling with the grief from the death of Emma's mother 2 years earlier, and is also struggling to keep the academy going too. After the last student graduates, Emma decides that a change of scenery, and a break from the pressures of running a school is just what her father needs. When her father accepts the job to tutor the two youngest sons of baronet in the spring of 1817, Emma agrees to travel with him to the cliff-top manor on the coast of Cornwall.Once they arrive, they do not feel entirely welcomed by some of the members of the family; each one seems to be hiding some sort of secret, and soon, mysterious things begin to happen, such as someone sneaking into Emma's room at night, and ripping pages from her journal only to return them later with chilling illustrations on them. Emma also wonders who is playing the pianoforte in the middle the night, when the music room is supposedly empty.The baronet's two oldest sons remember Emma from their days at her father's academy; she had been an awkward, studious girl back then, but now one of them finds himself drawn to her. Emma had befriended one of the brothers in the past, but now she does not know which one she can trust.I really enjoyed this story, and I have also read most of this author's others books as well. She is one of my favorite authors when it comes to stories set in the Regency era of England. The characters are well drawn, and she does a great job with really making you feel the atmosphere amidst where the stories are set.
Do You like book Die Tochter Des Hauslehrers (2013)?
