"She Walks in Beauty" Review

"She Walks in Beauty" by Siri Mitchell is a book that I picked up from an "if you like this author...you might like this author" recommendation. I think the author that I "liked" was Tracie Peterson, but I'm not sure!

This book takes place during New York City's Gilded Age, which was during the late 1800's/early 1900's. As far as historical fiction goes, I have not read much from this time period. The main character, Clara Carter, is an only child being raised by her father and widowed aunt. She is coming into the year of her "debut" and is expected to snag a wealthy husband in order to uphold her family’s honor.

While the setting of this book was interesting, I sometimes became bored with the endless descriptions of dresses and dances and the goings-on of the characters, especially their experiences with wearing corsets. I guess that was the point of the book, but it did get tiring. The main character, Clara, seemed to waffle back and forth a lot. One minute she dreaded going to the next ball; the next minute she was excited to be there.

Also, for a supposedly Christian book, the message of faith was not really there. I think you could take out every reference to faith or God and still have the same story.

While I did not enjoy this book as much as other Christian historical fiction stories I have read, the author’s obvious point that women in this era were forced into everything they did (even forced into corsets…) can be pertinent today. Who I am as a woman and a human being is determined by God and His Word, not society or worldly standards.

I have decided to rate books using a "Bookworm Rating!" This will be out of 5 Bookworms.

“She Walks in Beauty” will receive………2 1/2 Bookworms.