Review of Hattie Vavaseur

[Amyah MapleBell]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Hattie Vavaseur" by M. Rebecca Wildsmith.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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It starts with a funeral, and Hattie watches the mourners as she waits for her taxi. A lot of dry, meaningless sobs, she thought. As her chauffeur arrives and takes her away, Hattie realises she is not going home as she thought. She is going… somewhere. She can't really remember and is too proud to admit to the memory loss. Everyone seems to be expecting her, so she must be at the right place. She wakes up the following day in a PINK room (how she hates that colour) with no mirrors to straighten her hat in. She is sure her memory loss is getting worse. She hasn't met the master of the house, she is off to see an occultist (which she absolutely does not believe in), and she has no idea what is going on… Hattie has a few mysteries to solve, where she is, why she is there, and as a lady, she will demand the answers firmly but polity.

Usually, this type of book would not be my cup of tea, but it was a delight. The story is set in the late 1800s, with the characters' manners and speech reflecting it. There is a butler, a chauffeur, and the small stable boy with his pranks (which still meant putting frogs in drawers or ladies’ dresses). It takes a little while to figure out what is going on, but it is a good story in general. The author captures the style of that time very well, and you are transported there. It has some good humour, a very dramatic occultist and true love as it could only have been in those days. The story is about solving mysteries, so my descriptions have been brief. There is no fun in being told the answer to the riddle ahead of time.

I didn’t particularly appreciate that the story is a little slow, but that does fit with books written for this period in general, I think.

I rate Hattie Vavaseur by M. Rebecca Wildsmith four out of four stars. The book is well-edited; I enjoyed the characters, the period the story takes place in and the mysteries that needed to be solved. It also had its dramatic moments, betrayal, jealousy, and all in all, a very good variety of events and characters.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy stories set in the time period of the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Also, readers who like stories with mysteries to be solved and romantics who enjoy the tales of love lost and found again.

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Hattie Vavaseur
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