In 1910, a missionary visitor arrives at Sophiny Mumm’s convent boarding school in Concord, Kansas. Sophiny is smitten. Her best friend Antoinette Dominguez is not—and begins a series of strange behaviors breaking all the rules. In an ensuing investigation of puzzling enigmas, Sophiny has to use all the resources of emerging women’s rights, family relationships, social networks, the new technologies (telephone, photography, and transportation), and patron saints. A Pretty Age exposes the violence still underlying the Midwest’s supposed civilizing forces at the turn of the century (1910) through the emergence of two convent boarding school students into a world where weapons may have changed but the danger remains.
Publisher: WestBow Press
Published: 2/7/2013
- ISBN-13: 978-1449779559
- Pages: 282
Read Excerpt here.
About Author
Barbara Mueller recently retired from teaching English at a Southern California community college. For twenty-eight years, she taught composition and literature courses, including critical thinking, women’s literature, and Bible as literature. She now has time to think about the larger issues of what her grandmothers left her and what she wants to leave her grandchildren. Barbara grew up in Kansas and attended the same convent boarding school her grandmother attended. She loved the experience, as she knows her grandmother did. This is her first novel inspired by that experience, but all names, places, and events have been fictionalized.
Visit Barbara's Facebook Page Here.
My Thoughts
I went to Catholic school but it was not an all girls school where the students lived at the school. Thinking this read would be a walk down memory lane I was very much mistaken. The main character in this book found herself attracted to a missionary monk that was visiting her school. I found this uncomfortable. The girls I went to school with may have had infatuations with boys their own age but I am pretty sure none of them lusted after the clergy. I only read maybe a third of the way through the book and could not get into this story. Maybe it was just me therefore would keep the interest of other readers. To give the author credit the story was well written of what I read. I just did not like the story line.
Since I did not read the whole book I don't have the full picture of the book so it would not be right for me to recommend the book. I hope to read the book in it's entirety at another time.
I rated this book a 4 out of 5.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from Booksneeze/WestBow Press for review. I was in no way compensated for this review. This review is my honest opinion.
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