I previously read An Ivy Hill Christmas by talented Regency author Julie Klassen.  The multiple characters and attention to detail return in her lively new read, THE SISTERS OF SEA VIEW. Like the Jane Austen books set in Bath, we follow the fortunes of those who come to take the sea air, try stylish indoor bathing and brave the cold coastal waters. 

Sarah Summers has to step up in 1819 when her father passes away, her mother is an invalid, and her sisters Emily, Georgiana, and Viola show no inclination or suitability towards marriage. Sidmouth, where they have been left a summer house, is a fashionable location on the Devonshire coast; but not so highly esteemed as Bath. The girls pull together with their individual talents to open a boarding house for genteel people. They came from better, but a male cousin has inherited their manor house. This story continually addresses the status of women without harping on problems, because the girls just get on with being the upcoming middle class, and decide how many servants they can afford to keep on by doing much of the work themselves. 

I love the start of each chapter carrying a quote from a guidebook or newspaper of the day. Sarah is applying recipes such as pound cakes and sampling the results, while a Reverend Butcher who really wrote a Guide to Sidmouth is among those making an appearance. We also try out bathing in various forms, evening entertainments, and charitable works. Viola brings home to us another aspect of the time period: as a girl born with a cleft lip, she has endured painful operations and feels scarred as a result. She wears a veil when she goes to read to an ill neighbour. This man, however, is a returned soldier, and they start to develop a kinship. Disability during this time is also shown, with older ladies either being carried in a sedan chair or wheeled in a Bath chair. The ups and downs of social and seaside life are well portrayed and often amusing, sometimes shocking. 

I definitely want to read more of the adventures of THE SISTERS OF SEA VIEW in this new series On Devonshire Shores. Julie Klassen is giving us heartily original work based on her research. I could not ask for better.

Book Summary