The bulk of historical fiction features heroines in the upper-class describing the ton, their balls, and the loves and losses of dukes and ladies; or the trials and tribulations of life at court. Erica Eisdorfer has penned a unique tale from the perspective of a wet nurse named Susan Rose. The daughter of a drunk and a wet nurse, she first has a job at the "big house" working as a scullery maid, but she becomes pregnant after a dalliance and her father realizes what the upper classes will pay for a wet nurse.
Susan leaves her own son to move into the homes of the rich and care for their babes. A second dalliance gives her a second child and, after this one is taken from her, Susan proves just how shrewd a protagonist she is although she can neither read nor write. This story turns into an adventure, and gets somewhat darker, as Susan sets out to find her child.
Erica Eisdorfer gives readers insight into a perspective of Victorian life seldom seen in today's historical fiction. Susan Rose doesn't ask for sympathy for the lot she's been given, and she isn't the most beautiful woman, but she makes the most of what she has to take care of herself. She speaks in a servant-class dialect that comes across as realistic and honest. Eisdorfer's writing is solid as she evokes the hardships of Susan and her family, and the loves of mothers for their children. The author ends each chapter with a vignette about a mother and why she sent her child to a wet nurse. These vignettes are touching and lend even more credibility to the tale. Susan Rose is a true-to-life character and easy to like. Following her through this tale is enjoyable.
Fans of historical fiction will enjoy this tale, but it will appeal even more to those curious about the life of those who served the lords and ladies of the day. Eisdorfer is an author to watch; she does her research, brings a time period to life, delivers a multi- faceted protagonist and strong secondary characters, and teaches us about wet nurses, the option open to a well- bosomed and trustworthy Victorian woman.
Susan Rose is promiscuous, loveable, plump, and
schemingβespecially when it comes to escaping life as a
kitchen drudge in Victorian England. Luckily for Susan, her
big heart is coverd by an equally big bosom, and her bosom
is her fortuneβfor Susan becomes a professional wet nurse,
like her mother before her.
But while scullery maids and cooks live below stairs, a wet
nurse lives upstairs, and if sheβs like Susan, she makes it
her business to know all the intrigues and scandals that the
upper-crust would prefer to keep to themselves. When her own
child is caught up in a family scandal, Susan must use her
plentiful street-smarts to rescue her baby from the powerful
mistress of the house.
The scheme she weaves is bold, daring, and could spell ruin
for her if she failsβbut Susan Rose has no shortage of
gumption. Bright, clever, and with a crackling wit all her
own, Susan is an irresistible heroine.
THE WET NURSEβS TALE, is a rich, rollicking portrait of
love, life, and motherhood in Victorian Englandβwhere things
are much less buttoned-up than they seem.
No excerpt available.
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