The Sisters of Sea View

 

The first book I read by Julie Klassen was The Lady of Milkweed Manor and I've been hooked on her writings ever since. The Sisters of Sea View is one of the sweetest books that Julie has written and I LOVED it.  

The four Summers sisters are thrust into hard times following the death of their father, and they have to find a way to hold onto their house or sell it and buy something much smaller. As the oldest sister in the household, Sarah takes it upon herself to see that the family is not forced out into the street with the suggestion to turn the house into guest lodging.  They are on the seacoast and have a lovely home that many guests would enjoy.  Viola doesn't want to help with any household chores, but finds her way to help the family coffers by reading to invalids who need the companionship.  She even finds herself volunteering to read to a lady at the poorhouse. Emily does a lot of writing for the advertisements for the home.  Georgianna is too young to do much more than changing the sheets on the beds.  Sarah takes on the lion's share of the work by learning to bake, taking care of the menus, and overseeing the running of the guest house.  The girls' mother is too weak to be of much service at all. 

There are a plethora of guests who show up to enjoy the hospitality of the girls and each has their own agenda.  

• Mr Henshall, along with his step-daughter, Effie, was looking for some gems his wife had stashed in the house a few summers ago.  He wanted the jewelry pieces for Effie to have something of her mother's. 
• Mr and Mrs Elton--there's a lot to say about this couple. He is there to just enjoy himself, while she is the epitome of a social-climbing entitled woman (commonly known as a "Karen" in internet parlance). I guess those kinds of people existed even in the early 1800s. 
• Mr Stanley
• Mr Gwint and his stuffed parrot, Parry
• and a couple of other men whose presence made the book even richer. 

Viola hides away much of the time because she was born with a cleft lip and she felt the scar was unsightly.  She is engaged to read to a man who lives next door who was wounded in service to his country and bears scars of his own.  They find a common ground and a common love for each other that is often found in Julie's books.  This is a common theme with the way Julie writes--whether her characters have visible or hidden scars, they have to overcome some hardship to find who they really are and to find their own soul-mates. 

This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a trip to the seashore.  

Bethany House Publishing provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.