Title: Dear Mr.
Knightley
Author: Katherine
Reay
Book blurb: Dear
Mr. Knightley is a contemporary epistolary novel with a delightful dash of Jane
Austen.
Samantha Moore survived years of darkness in the foster care system by hiding
behind her favorite characters in literature, even adopting their very words.
Her fictional friends give her an identity, albeit a borrowed one. But most
importantly, they protect her from revealing her true self and encountering
more pain.
After college, Samantha receives an extraordinary opportunity. The anonymous
“Mr. Knightley” offers her a full scholarship to earn her graduate degree at
the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. The sole condition is that Sam
write to Mr. Knightley regularly to keep him apprised of her progress.
As Sam’s true identity begins to reveal itself through her letters, her heart
begins to soften to those around her—a damaged teenager and fellow inhabitant
of Grace House, her classmates at Medill, and, most powerfully, successful
novelist Alex Powell. But just as Sam finally begins to trust, she learns that
Alex has secrets of his own—secrets that, for better or for worse, make it
impossible for Sam to hide behind either her characters or her letters.
Quick endorsement: I
was delighted that Katherine honored me by asking me to write an endorsement
for this book – but that’s not why I’m recommending it now! I genuinely loved
this one, loved the Jane Austen aspects, loved the writing, loved the
characters, just plain loved it!
Link to review: http://austenitis.blogspot.com/2013/12/blog-tour-dear-mr-knightley.html
Author: Katherine
Reay
Genre: Life, Jane
Austen (can she be a genre?!)
My rating
on a 1-10 scale: 9
Type: Fiction
Number of
pages: 325
Time
period: Present
Publisher
and price: Thomas Nelson, $15.99
Passage about
the book: Samantha Moore survived years of darkness in the foster
care system by hiding behind her favorite characters in literature, even
adopting their very words. Her fictional friends give her an identity, albeit a
borrowed one. But most importantly, they protect her from revealing her true self
and encountering more pain.
After college, Samantha receives an extraordinary opportunity. The anonymous
“Mr. Knightley” offers her a full scholarship to earn her graduate degree at
the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. The sole condition is that Sam
write to Mr. Knightley regularly to keep him apprised of her progress.
As Sam’s true identity begins to reveal itself through her letters, her heart
begins to soften to those around her—a damaged teenager and fellow inhabitant
of Grace House, her classmates at Medill, and, most powerfully, successful
novelist Alex Powell. But just as Sam finally begins to trust, she learns that
Alex has secrets of his own—secrets that, for better or for worse, make it
impossible for Sam to hide behind either her characters or her letters.
My overall
opinion: When Katherine contacted me asking if I’d be interested in writing
an endorsement for Dear Mr. Knightley, I
was ecstatic to say the least – and not just because I was writing my first
endorsement, but also because finally, a book was coming that would incorporate
Jane Austen and not be horrid (like the zombie and sea monster spinoffs – haven’t
read them but they sound awful). An early copy arrived in my mailbox this
spring, and I quickly made time to delve into it. And I was not disappointed.
Katherine managed to perfectly incorporate strains of Jane Austen and Jane Eyre into Dear Mr. Knightley while keeping the story moving at a good rate. I’ve
read books before that are rather annoying, when put into letter form. This
story is in epistle form and it only enhances the delightful story within! I
was so caught up in this one. It’s easy to read, easy to love, and most
decidedly a book that I highly recommend to all Jane Austen fans. It’s worth
buying, y’all! (and if you read it...look on the first page - my endorsement is there!)
**The author sent me a free copy of this book in addition to the advance
manuscript, but I didn’t have to review it positively. I wasn’t paid for my
review.**
(note: you can find and watch a book trailer on youtube by just looking up "dear mr. knightley" . I am unable to include it here for complicated reasons.)
