The Gilded Girl by Lorna Cook

Rating:  4 

I just finished The Gilded Girl by Lorna Cook and I couldn't put it down. If you love drama and historical fiction that has a dual timeline, you will need to read this one. 

The present day timeline is so interesting.  We follow Zennor Trelenna, who is busy fixing up her family's old mansion over in Cornwall. While working on the house, she finds a hidden old letter that starts a massive mystery. 

The book then jumps back to the 1920s to follow Grace Pascoe, a poor maid at that same mansion. Grace falls in love with Laurie, the young son of the estate's owners, but he completely betrays her, or so she thinks. Enter Andrew, a kind butler at the estate who steps up to help Grace escape England and get to America. They end up getting married and later they fall in love.  Together they build an empire running a successful restaurant business during New York's Gilded Age.  Andrew sadly passes away, leaving Grace with a massive fortune.

Later on, Laurie has a son named Edward with another woman that his parents make him marry. In a wild twist of fate, Grace and Andrew's daughter ends up marrying Edward. This forces Grace to finally return to England and face her past, which blows the whole mystery wide open. 

In the present day, everything wraps up perfectly at the end with a great ending.  Zennor uses all these puzzle pieces to uncover the truth about her heritage, giving her the courage to make a big choice about her own life and future. It is just such a comforting, emotional read that ties up the loose ends. 

Here is a heads up for readers looking for something clean: this book features some sexual content, including a pregnancy out of wedlock, so it definitely isn't a clean book.

Thank you, NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK/Lake Union Publishing, and the author Lorna Cook, for the book review consideration.  All opinions are my own.

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