About the book:
Charlotte Farrow, maid in the wealthy Banning household on Chicago's opulent Prairie Avenue, has kept her baby boy a secret from her employers for nearly a year. But when the woman who has been caring for her son abruptly returns him, Charlotte must decide whether to come clean and face dismissal or keep her secret while the Bannings decide the child's fate. Can she face the truth of her own past and open her heart to a future of her own? Or will life's tragedies determine the future for her?
This compelling story set against the glittering backdrop of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition captures the tension between the wealthy class and the hardworking servants who made their lives comfortable.
My review:
I read the first book in the series, but in my opinion it wasn't needed to understand this one. The author outlined the maid's background just enough in this book to give you a feel for what happened in the past. The author did a great job with the location and the surrounding details to make the setting feel like that era in Chicago's history.
The situation Charlotte found herself in truly did give her a dilemma that was complicated, to say the least. It's hard to show a parent trying to do the right thing for their child, especially when it's the mother making that decision. Many women are quite passionate about the subject of placing a child for adoption or allowing someone else to raise their child, so I can see this being hard for some women to swallow. Having done adoptions and varying foster placements with many clients over the years, I can tell you it's no small thing to set aside your own needs to do what is best for your child. I think the author depicted that well.
I also liked the ending and how Charlotte realized she felt truly loved for the first time in her life. I was wondering how in the world the author would sort that mess out, but in the end, she did a great job working out the details so the reader would feel satisfied with the outcome. This is not an easy subject to address, but considering the many emotional challenges that go with this issue, I think the author did well. It wouldn't be an easy task to make the situation work for this story, but the author pulled it off.
The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow was published by Revell and released in Jan. 2013.
“Available January 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”
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