Status Updates From The Young Step-Mother

I feel the need to comment again, since there are moments when I absolutely adore and value this book, but in others it gets a bit too sentimental, trivial and - at one point - religious for my taste. Still a very special reading experience.

An update since I'll probably need some time for this book: I love how real and complex the characters are. I can't read a ton of this book at a time because of it's slice-of-life nature and because the protagonist has some depressive phases which I love the portrayal of but are hard to read. Potential 5 star candidate, though.

How on earth does CMY do it?! Make us so utterly fall in love with her characters and their lives?! ❤️❤️❤️

Another top-ranking Charlotte Mary Yonge… Sheesh, did I ever just bawl my eyes out…

Chapter 26

I bawled…

Oh boy… The tragedy is coming… 🙈

I love that Albinia and her brother, when unexpectedly stuck at a railway station, go out in the unknown village in search of good food and church architecture! ❤️ What a great idea!

I’m nervous about what is all going to come out of that garden party…Mistaken identities?! Illicit, unchaperoned walks in the dark?! All manner of reckless behaviour?!

Sophy’s journey is one we must all take T some point—accepting the parts of our character that will likely never leave us, or at least not fully, and taking responsibility for our words and actions even as we pursue growing in virtue.

It is just so beautiful, watching this family experience healing and becoming more accepting of, and gracious with, each other! ❤️ Lottie, you magician!

These are some of the most complex characters of CMY’s that I’ve ever encountered in her novels! What a book!