The School Mistress. A Book Review.

 

“Had I known the ways in which Emerson Pass would test my character, I might not have had the mettle to step off the train that autumn day in 1910.” I was attracted to this book by its cover, but it was this opening sentence that drew me into Quinn Cooper’s story.

Quinn had left Boston to teach in a one-room school in Emerson Pass, Colorado. Following an accident on the way from the train station, Quinn finds herself unexpectedly in the home of her employer. She had wanted to make a good impression upon her arrival in town, “one of an independent, educated woman”, but here she was “in a library of an actual English Lord, looking like a complete fool as well as a damsel in distress.”

Meanwhile, her employer, Lord Barnes, had expected her to be ‘an old maid with a silver bun and a long nose with a wart.” And she certainly was not!

The School Mistress was a delightful read, fast-paced, and with interesting narrative. The characters are interesting and well-defined. In addition to Quinn Cooper and Lord Barnes, two of my favorite characters in lesser roles were Lizzie and Jasper.

Lizzie, Lord Barnes’ cook, was “a woman who wrapped you in a warm blanket, fed you with biscuits, and made all your secrets spill forth.” Jasper was the exact opposite, a British butler whose formality seemed a little out of place in early 20th century Colorado.

History, romance, and a murder form the backdrop for this book. There is whimsy, strong notes of faith and family, giving a clear view of what like was like in the yet-to-be-tamed West. This a heartwarming, if somewhat predictable, story with enough twists and turns to keep me engaged from beginning to end.

I give this one 4 stars.