{"id":11881,"date":"2019-04-30T18:25:46","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T22:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=11881"},"modified":"2022-10-30T20:02:14","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T00:02:14","slug":"a-modest-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11881","title":{"rendered":"A Modest Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Modest Independence<\/a><\/em> (2019) Mimi Matthews<\/a> (Parish Orphans of Devon)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Set in England, Egypt, and India in 1860<\/p>\n

Solicitor Tom Finchley has worked his way up from nothing. He craves security, which is why he puts up with a job that often leaves him feeling uncomfortable, since the men he represents aren’t always good people.<\/p>\n

Jenny Holloway became a companion for her cousin, to escape her life in a small town, where she was expected to look after her alcoholic father (since she hadn’t married). After her cousin’s marriage, she has received a modest independence, and plans to spend her life traveling, to escape the rules and strictures of society.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome. You can\u2019t expect me to believe that you\u2019ve never dreamed of marrying and having a family.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd giving up all of my rights? Not only over my money and property, but over my body? No thank you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At the end of the previous book, Jenny remained angry with Tom, who didn’t tell her the whole truth about his best friend (and client’s) history and plans. But Justin and Lady Helena know that they care about each other, and so force them to deal with each other.<\/p>\n

Because of his history, Tom trusts almost no one.<\/p>\n

Even Justin, his best friend and the closest thing he had to a brother, was not privy to all of his secrets. Tom didn\u2019t wish to burden him\u2014 or disappoint him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He also lives his life in a way so as to keep himself secure financially, which keeps him safe in body, but has left him lonely, all but married to his job.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a boy spends his childhood never knowing from one day to the next whether he\u2019ll have food to eat or a roof over his head, the prospect of steady work and dependable wages is something to dream about.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not that Jenny is quick to trust either.<\/p>\n

I have only your best interest at heart, you know.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSaid every man to every woman since the beginning of time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tom and Jenny go to India, to search for Helena’s brother, who was believed killed during an uprising.<\/p>\n

This story attempts to be historically accurate, which means that there is a LOT of racism and other awfulness by the British towards the “natives”.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe,\u201d he said, \u201cthat one can accurately be called a savage if one is inhabiting one\u2019s own country.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mrs. Plank\u2019s smile turned thin. \u201cIt is not their country, sir. It is ours.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Aside from the casual racism (historically accurate, as she notes) this is a sweet story, and there is NO BOINKING. It’s a romance, so of course Jenny and Tom are going to end up together, but their desires and needs were so far apart, I didn’t see how they could have their HEAs without having to give up some important part of themselves.<\/p>\n

This was actually a concern for me as I was reading, because both of them had beliefs based upon their needs: Tom’s need for financial security and Jenny’s need to see the world and not lose her rights and independence. And they both needed to learn to trust.<\/p>\n

The ending reads as if there will be another book in the series, but it was a perfectly satisfactory ending, and if I didn’t get another book, I’d be fine with it.<\/p>\n

So an enjoyable story, with lovely characters, and although there was drama, it wasn’t ridiculous drama.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Perfectly Proper Press
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Modest Independence (2019) Mimi Matthews (Parish Orphans of Devon) Set in England, Egypt, and India in 1860 Solicitor Tom Finchley has worked his way up from nothing. He craves security, which is why he puts up with a job that often leaves him feeling uncomfortable, since the men he represents aren’t always good people. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,30,33,8,26],"tags":[181,557],"class_list":["post-11881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-historical","category-mystery","category-romance","tag-mimi-matthews","tag-victorian"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-35D","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19491,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19491","url_meta":{"origin":11881,"position":0},"title":"A Holiday By Gaslight","author":"Michelle","date":"December 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A Holiday By Gaslight (2018) Mimi Matthews Set in England in 1861 I love a good novella \/ short story. I have tremendous respect for an author who can build characters and an immersive story in under 200 pages. What I particularly liked about this story is Sophie has a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Holiday By Gaslight","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/A-Holiday-By-Gaslight.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12313,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12313","url_meta":{"origin":11881,"position":1},"title":"A Holiday By Gaslight","author":"Michelle","date":"December 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A Holiday By Gaslight (2018) Mimi Matthews Set in England in 1861. Sophie Appersett has decided that although Mr Edward Sharpe is handsome as well as wealthy, they do not suit. After months, she still knows nothing about him, other than that he and his best friend made their money\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Holiday By Gaslight","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/A-Holiday-By-Gaslight.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12661,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12661","url_meta":{"origin":11881,"position":2},"title":"The Lost Letter","author":"Michelle","date":"March 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lost Letter (2017) Mimi Matthews Set in England in 1860. Sylvia Stafford now works as a governess. The suicide of her father left her destitute, abandoned by society and her friends. So she is shocked when a young lady appears, asking her to come to the country. Sebastian Conrad,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Lost Letter","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/The-Lost-Letter.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22717,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22717","url_meta":{"origin":11881,"position":3},"title":"A Holiday By Gaslight","author":"Michelle","date":"January 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A Holiday By Gaslight (2018) Mimi Matthews Set in England in 1861 Sophie's father keeps improving their country estate--whether they have the funds to do so or not--so when wealthy manufacturer asks permission to court her, the family agrees. But despite wanting to help her family, Sophie also wants to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Holiday By Gaslight","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/A-Holiday-By-Gaslight.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11033,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11033","url_meta":{"origin":11881,"position":4},"title":"The Viscount and the Vicar’s Daughter","author":"Michelle","date":"August 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Viscount and the Vicar's Daughter (2018) Mimi Matthews Set in England in 1861. Tristan Sinclair, Viscount St. Ashton is a rake bored with his life. Valentine March is a vicar's daughter, left on her own after the death of her father. When Tristan finds Valentine weeping in the Folly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/The-Viscount-and-the-Vicars-Daughter.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12501,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12501","url_meta":{"origin":11881,"position":5},"title":"The Winter Companion","author":"Michelle","date":"February 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Winter Companion (2020) Mimi Matthews Set in England in 1860 This is the 4th book of The Parish Orphans of Devon series, and about the most complicated of the four men. Neville Cross has spent as much time as possible with animals, rather than people, after the accident that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Winter Companion","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/The-Winter-Companion.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}