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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

When You Love an Author but not One Book

by Chautona Havig · 5 Comments

The House at the End of the Moor turned out to be a surprise of an entirely different kind. Curious to know what others think of it. via @chautonahavig

“So many books. So little time.”

How many times have I said that?  Probably enough to make me a walking, talking cliche.  But it’s kind of true, you know?

I get these emails, you see.  “New Tour Alert” followed by a title or cover that grabs me or by an author name that says, “You know you want to read me…”

Look, I did a lot of reviews last year, so I deliberately signed up for fewer ones this year. Just to be certain that if life throws any more curveballs I wouldn’t be overrun.

So life throws a pandemic that keeps me home with plenty of time to read, right?

Just kidding. I don’t have any more or less time than usual. My life hasn’t changed almost at all. I digress.

Books.  Well, there are some authors who, when a tour announcement goes out, it’s an automatic “Um, YEAH!. Duh!” from me.

The House at the End of the Moor was one of those books.  I saw Michelle Griep’s name and went, “Well, yeah!”

Then I read it and…

The house at the end of the moor review

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a commission at no extra expense to you.

When You Love an Author but not One Book

An opera singer in hiding and an escaped (but innocent) convict. Oh, and a Dartmouth moor. In the interest of full confessions, I will now admit that I snorted when I saw that Maggie has a slight obsession with Jane Eyre.

Told from three points of view in two styles (both third/past and first/present), the story becomes a bit jarring when the third POV is entered.  I think it’s because we don’t get that POV right away.  I do understand why Ms. Griep put in his POV and I think if they were all in the same tense it would have been less jarring. As it was, going from person to person, tense to tense, and first to third left me with a bit of mental whiplash.  This style CAN be done well. I just finished one where it was employed, but the present time POV was 75 years later than the past tense POVs. It actually helped set the stage well instead of pulling you off it.

Additionally, while I LIKED the characters, I didn’t love them. Maggie was nice.  Oliver was nice. Barrows was evil. Grout was evil. Corbin or whatever his name was… was evil.  The most multi-layered character in the whole book was a minor character–Oliver’s father.  He was my favorite.  He and the other politician dude’s wife.

Oh!  And ARGH.  Dora?  Was that the maid’s name?  I can’t remember and the book is home, but I want her story.  I suspect she has a cool one we’d all love to know.

Plot of The House at the End of the Moor… meh.

What Ms. Griep did really well was to put some of the difficult things in even as she used a bit of convenience to further the plot. It was as if she was writing a fantasy book where using a bit of magic by one of the character holds a penalty. So, every time she created a convenience, one character had to pay a bit.  That’s a poor way to explain it, but it’s the best I can do.

All in all, it really felt like they were running around, doing a bunch of random things that really made no sense.  At one point, Oliver is informed that something he thought he knew about his father was wrong for all these years.  He finds out his father has been doing something really rather wonderful.  And his reaction is to never speak to his father again.

WHAT?

I don’t get it.  It’s as if we needed him mad at daddy so Maggie can have her little sermon, and then everyone can repent and live happily ever after.

UGH, that looks nasty written out that way.  I don’t mean it to be.  But that’s exactly how it came across.

The best part?

The spiritual content in The House at the End of the Moor is really the strongest element in the book, even with the preachy scene. There is some solid spiritual encouragement and Scriptural applications of sound Bible in the lives and revelations of the characters.  THAT was beautiful, and really, it made the little sermonette not as bothersome as it otherwise would have been. Still, if Maggie had given that sermon BEFORE the discussion with the father, it all would have made so much more sense.

I didn’t love this book, but I still love the author.  I’d like to lay blame on the first-person/present tense element. She did that in her “The Old Lace Shop” and I didn’t like it there.  It worked better in this due to the “on the run” aspect, but only just.

Recommended to lovers of Michelle Griep’s work, Bronte book lovers, and readers who just enjoy lovely wordsmithing without strong expectations. While I’m not sorry I requested a free review copy, I am grateful to have received it. Looking forward to her next book, regardless.

house at the end of the moorAbout the Book

Book:  House at the End of the Moor

Author: Michelle Griep

Genre:  Christian Historical

Release Date: April 2020

An Opulent London Opera Star Escapes to the Rugged Landscape of the English Moors

Opera star Maggie Lee escapes her opulent lifestyle when threatened by a powerful politician who aims to ruin her life. She runs off to the wilds of the moors to live in anonymity. All that changes the day she discovers a half-dead man near her house. Escaped convict Oliver Ward is on the run to prove his innocence until he gets hurt and is taken in by Maggie. He discovers some jewels in her possession—the very same jewels that got him convicted. Together they hatch a plan to return the jewels, clearing Oliver’s name and hopefully maintaining Maggie’s anonymity.

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Comments

  1. Caryl Kane says

    April 23, 2020 at 1:06 pm

    Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts.

    Reply
  2. Dianne Casey says

    April 22, 2020 at 9:54 am

    Sounds like a book I would enjoy reading. The moors sound fascinating.

    Reply
  3. James Robert says

    April 22, 2020 at 12:31 am

    Congrats on this tour and thank for the opportunity to read about another great book out there to read. It helps out so I can find books I know my family will enjoy reading. Thanks as well for the giveaway.

    Reply
  4. Amelia says

    April 21, 2020 at 12:07 pm

    Thanks for the review!

    Reply
  5. Rita Wray says

    April 21, 2020 at 10:34 am

    Thank you for the review.

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
byChautona Havig

Nothing says fairy tale like a sweet western romance by an author like Karen Witemeyer… unless it’s a fairytale retelling set in Texas in the late 19th century, right?  Fairest of Heart takes the familiar “Snow White” and turns it on its head with retired cowboys, a self-absorbed actress, a Texas Ranger, and a sweet girl who knows the true Source of her beauty.  Listen in to see all the genius Easter eggs Witemeyer planted in this book.

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Sometimes All a Girl Needs Is a True Change of Heart

I fell in love with the cover of Karen Witemeyer’s Head Over Heels a few years back (only to learn it’s much older than that, even), and meant to read that book.  I didn’t.  #BecauseIdiot. Well, that’ll be rectified just as soon as I’m done listening to her first book in a trilogy of fairytale retellings. I loaded it up on my Audible app tonight and wheeeeeeee. Here I go! So much for no new books until October. HA! 

Karen talks about her heart for young women today and how they’re taught by every bit of media blasting at them that they need to use their bodies to get what they need or want when the Lord has a better plan. And I can’t guarantee it, but I strongly suspect she does it without preaching. SQUEE!

Fairest of Heart by Karen Witemeyer

Once upon a time in Texas . . .

Beauty has been nothing but a curse to Penelope Snow. When she becomes a personal maid for a famous actress whose troupe is leaving Chicago to tour the West, she hides her figure beneath shapeless dresses and keeps her head down. But she still manages to attract the wrong attention, leaving her prospects in tatters–and her jealous mistress plotting her demise.

After his brother lost his life over a woman, Texas Ranger Titus Kingsley has learned to expect the worst from women and is rarely disappointed. So when a young lady found in suspicious circumstances takes up residence with the seven old drovers living at his grandfather’s ranch, Titus is determined to keep a close eye on her.

With a promotion hanging in the balance, Titus is assigned to investigate a robbery case tied to Penelope’s acting troupe, and all evidence points to Penelope’s guilt. But Titus might just be convinced that the fairest woman of all has a heart as pure as her last name . . . if only he can prove it.

You can learn more about Karen Witemeyer and her books on her WEBSITE. Don’t forget the book is 30% off on BakerBookHouse.com.  

Follow Karen on BookBub and GoodReads.

And don’t forget her Posse Group on Facebook.

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Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
Episode 265: A Chat with Karen Witemeyer
September 29, 2023
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