A Captivating Read

This book is SO good. I was immediately transfixed by the story. The tale is of a four year old girl who is found in Australia getting off a ship from England all alone, with a small suitcase containing a fairy tale book, and she has no idea who she is. A man and woman take her in as their own and on her 21st birthday her father tells her that he found her and she was not his own. In 2005 this woman passes away and leaves the mystery of her birth to her granddaughter. The story rotates through time going between accounts set in 1900, 1913, 1975, 2005, and more, all to weave together the pieces of the story. Who were her parents? Why was she sent on a long voyage alone? And who is the mysterious Authoress of the fairy tale book she holds?

I loved this book even better than her first novel, which I read earlier this summer (A House at Riverton). I love the juxtaposition of the Victorian Era and modern settings. I think of all the books I've read lately this is the one I recommend most highly.