MARY GREEN

MARY GREEN by MELANIE KERR.

PUBLICITY BLURB: Historical Fiction, Regency era

Release Date: May 1, 2016
320 Pages / 5”x7.75”

Promotion: Alberta author events, National review mailing, online promotion and select advertising

Trade paperback:
$19.95 CAD
ISBN 978-0-9866494-4-8

Hard cover:
$32.95 CAD
ISBN 978-0-9866494-5-5.

Mary Green, obscure orphan and ward of the wealthy Hargreaves family, has always accepted her inferior position with grace, humility, and gratitude. When she discovers that her only friend is to leave the country forever, that her confidence has been betrayed by the unfeeling youngest daughter of the family, and that her very deprivation is the object of the mockery and scorn of everyone she has sought to honour, she determines to cast them off and make her own way in the world. On her twenty-first birthday, free to choose her own destiny, she dreams of peace and tolerance, and perhaps a partner who might be noble enough to love her in all her simplicity. But when an unexpected foray into London society disrupts all her plans, she is faced with an uncharacteristic storm of feelings. Will she grow strong and happy in her independence, or will her character be lost amidst her new found ambition? Unable to trust the whims of her own heart, Mary is forced to confront the question that has forever plagued her: Who is she and where does she come from?

About the Author:

Melanie Kerr studied linguistics, English, and theatre at the University of British Columbia, and law at the University of Alberta. Kerr is a reckless lover of clotted cream, a staunch defender of the semi-colon, and a fierce opponent of unpleasant music. She wooed her current and only husband with false promises of skill at word games and eternally good hair. She lives in Edmonton, where she raises her three young children, sews her own Regency costumes, organizes Regency costume events, blogs on all things old and English, endeavours to take over the world, and occasionally practices law.

SOURCE: A special pre-release copy received for review. I was honoured to be approached to read/review this after having read/reviewed Melanie's first book, Follies Past. 

MY THOUGHTS: Asked to sum up Mary Green, I'd have to say its a sort of Jane Eyre-come-Cinderella- come-Eliza Doolittle hybrid that sees our heroine go from (almost) rags to riches to ... well, lets just say Mary's story is one of self discovery.

A journey of self discovery that felt very familiar for it has to be said that this was a version of a story that I felt I had read many times before. Not that this mattered one iota as in Mary (aka Polly) we have one of those characters you simply can't help but take to heart, feeling sorrow at her every disappointment, rejoicing in her every triumph.

And its not just Mary either. Written with as much care as our heroine, the 'secondary' characters are in fact anything but secondary. All memorable in their own way despite, perhaps because of, their flaws. 

Altogether written with such panache. The author does an exemplary job of immersing her readers into Regency life. The attention to detail superb, the social etiquette, the dress, the customs impressively gone into as Mary finds herself thrown into London Society and yet finds herself increasingly wondering just who she is and where she comes from.