Reviews

• Blue eyes and specs

  Loved this book as well as the first in the series. Orphan boys finding their way and love in life is a good read. I love all the historical aspects as I am a history buff. Mr. Finchley tried so hard to be a proper English gentleman. Ms. Matthews kept the dialogue in the form that would have been understood at the time, also adding to the story’s tension, as well as the timeline for traveling, giving the sense of time as compared to today. J.McD.

  By Judith McMan

• Needs editing

  I agree with the other less than stellar reviews. Needs to be 25% shorter. It’s tediously repetitive. So much pining and guilt for touching each other’s hands. Eye roll.

  By Ekams

• Simmering love, travels to far away lands, mystery!

  I’ve just recently discovered Mimi Matthews. What a gift of a writer. In this tale she weaves complex and fascinating characters, Tom, Jenny, and Giles into an investigative story set in England, Egypt and India, along with a simmering love story. So much fun to read!

  By lite it up

• A Modest Independence

  Tedious. Angst ridden. Main character is unlikeable, cold,obsessed with being “independent”. Just a boring book. Save your money.

  By Suzette23

• A Modest Independence

  Though this can be read as a standalone, after reading the first book, A Matrimonial Advertisement, I was looking forward to Jenny and Tom’s story. I was disappointed. There are several typos throughout the book. Circular arguments, recycled descriptions, and unnecessary explanations made for repetitive reading that dragged, resulting in a book that should be at least twenty percent shorter, and at times Jenny and Tom’s relationship journey felt forced. The writing gets progressively less show and more tell throughout the story. At halfway I was disenchanted and at three-quarters I was ready for this book to be over. At the very beginning it was Jenny who suspected that Giles did not want to be found because he had taken to India and because of the death of his mother, and likely had no idea of Helena’s abuse at the hands of his uncle because news could not reach him. But when they finally reunite, for some reason she thinks he should be grateful Tom helped find him and is all “haven’t you read the paper” as they stand in the middle of the wilderness, and acts completely ignorant when he recites the very reasons she hypothesized at the start. When Jenny and Tom finally have their big fight it just comes off as very stupid and melodramatic. For a supposed “no-nonsense” 28-year-old, Jenny reads like an obnoxious 21 -year-old, made worse considering the life expectancy back then. She may have been given a retirement sum, but Tom is a lawyer and as far as readers are aware still needs to work, and becoming one in another country where he doesn’t even speak the primary language is no simple task, lest he be financially dependent on her which is another thing. It’s extra cringe when he later says he should have given up everything and stayed with her. It’s a shame because a lot of research went into this book. There are interesting parallels drawn between Jenny and Tom, and a lot of merit in a story about taking time to discover who you are and exploring concepts of independence and dependence, of power dynamics in relationships and boundaries. But the execution wasn’t there. This book does romanticize Colonial India, which, to the author’s credit, is acknowledged and apologized for.

  By PalatableDinner

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