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Lawana Blackwell
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The Maiden of Mayfair (Tales of London Book #1) Kindle Edition

by Lawana Blackwell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,188 ratings
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If the Truth is Revealed, Will She Lose All She's Grown to Love?

An orphanage in the slums of London is the only home Sarah Matthews has ever known. When she is suddenly whisked away to a wealthy widow's home in the prestigious Mayfair district, Sarah can't fathom what has happened. Why would this elderly woman, a stranger, want her company? But Dorothea Blake has reasons she isn't revealing.

As Sarah blossoms into a young woman, the secret Mrs. Blake harbors threatens to make them both outcasts among London's elite. When a visitor unknowingly stumbles upon the truth, he puts Sarah at risk of losing everything she holds dear, including the attentions of a new curate. Will the mystery of her birth remain buried forever?
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  1. Book 1 of 3
    Tales of London
  2. Print length
    420 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Bethany House Publishers
  6. Publication date
    January 1, 2001
  7. File size
    3739 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In The Maiden of Mayfair, first in her Victorian Tales of London series, Blackwell evokes Dickens rather than the Brontes in her portrait of young Sarah Matthews. Sarah is the ward of the St. Matthew Methodist Foundling Home for Girls in Drury Lane. Although the orphanage is grim, she's lucky, for abandoned children are everywhere and often perish in the streets. And soon Sarah is rescued by a rich widow who suspects Sarah may be her granddaughter, the daughter of her profligate son. Blackwell's Victorian romances can seem tame even for the Christian market, although her period detail is always fine, and this series looks to be livelier than some of its predecessors. John Mort
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"...women readers from middle school on will enjoy. A good addition to any church library collection." -- Church Libraries, Summer 2001

"Sarah's moving story is not without tenderness and great understanding of the day." -- Romantic Times Magazine, January 2001

"This is a charming, tender and sometimes funny story that delves into Victorian social structure." -- Historical Novels Review, Aug. 2001

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008DVT1DA
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bethany House Publishers (January 1, 2001)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2001
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3739 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 420 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,188 ratings

About the author

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Lawana Blackwell

Lawana Blackwell

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Lawana Blackwell has thirteen published novels to her credit, many of them set in the English countryside of the 19th century. She and her husband live in Frisco, Texas.

Bio and Photo from bakerpublishinggroup.com

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
2,188 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

MERK
5.0 out of 5 stars lovely story!
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2024
Verified Purchase
Lawanda Blackwell consistently
writes wonderful, inspirational novels! Her characters and settings
are credible. She is easily becoming a highly sought out, favorite author.
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Belle
5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended Christian read
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2016
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I have really enjoyed this book.
- It is very well written and edited; such work is difficult to find in today's world of indie publishing.
- The book pacing is just right, story and characters are well developed so that the reader does not have to wonder who or what, or feel like a plot jumped on you.
- There is a good mix of twists and turns that gives the book enough excitement. The way Sarah's real father Daniel Rayborn was gradually brought into the picture for example, was nicely done. I did not immediately see that coming. The way Mrs. Forsyth of the orphanage revealed her secret made me feel even more connected to Sarah.
- The characters are very likeable, and i felt like i was watching and observing them instead of just reading about them. I like Sarah a lot, although she is a tad too sweet and naive. But then i guess this is to be expected considering her background coming from an orphanage, her deformity, and her lack of social interaction outside the household circle. If she is portrayed otherwise it would definitely not endear her as much to anyone including the reader. Mrs. Blake, who initially appeared cold turned out compassionate and giving, albeit with some selfish reasons, but one gets to love her as well.
- The side plots and the lives of the servants are interesting too, and gives more color and life to the book as a whole.

Overall, this book is a good read. Sweet, clean, and believable. There is a great deal of Christian musings and references that borders on too much. To me they sound very American than English. I just cannot imagine them being so preachy. I highly recommend this book to all fans of the Christian genre and to readers who prefer light romance that is free of any sexual content.
2 people found this helpful
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Marlene H.
4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely, clean, historical Christian fiction by Lawana Blackwell
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2016
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"The Maiden of Mayfair," first in the "Tales of London" series, by Lawana Blackwell (2001, Bethany House) is a standalone historical Christian novel, set in 1869 London. I read Blackwell’s "The Widow of Larkspur Inn" a while back, and wanted to try another one of her books. So I was excited to get "The Maiden of Mayfair" for free on Amazon not too long ago.

4 1/2 stars

Sarah Matthews is brought to an orphanage at three years of age by a fisherman who discovered her in the water. As a young teenager, she goes to live in Mayfair with Dorothea Blake, an older lady who has no family left. Sarah is a delightful girl, and in the first half of the book, set in 1869, she and Mrs. Blake grow closer to one another.

In the second half of the book, it’s 1875, and Sarah is a young woman. This story is just as much about Sarah’s relationship with others (particularly the sweet servants) as it is her relationship with Mrs. Blake.

What I liked:

*I absolutely loved the first half of this book. I’m a big fan of orphan stories, and this is a really good one!

*Based on my reading two of Lawana Blackwell’s books (from separate series), I believe that her trademarks are: excellent story-weaving, a large cast, brief, appropriate prayers and Christian concepts, and great writing set in England’s late 1800’s. The stories are somewhat slow-paced, but I think that adds to the authenticity. For whatever reason, possibly the orphan element, I read this book much faster than "The Widow of Larkspur Inn."

What I didn’t like:

*In the second half of the book, there is a new character introduced that I really dislike. Now, I know that the reader is not SUPPOSED to like this person. And I do understand the two literary <i>purposes</i> of the character, but that doesn’t make me any fonder. The first half of the book was a solid five star read for me, but I’d rate the second half of the book 4 stars simply due to the addition of this character.

*Just as in "The Widow of Larkspur Inn", I feel that this story was too light on the romance. For a book with 400+ pages, I think there’s plenty of room to develop the romance more without making the romance the focal point of the novel. However, the scene between the hero and heroine at the end was rather nice!

----------------------------------

I’d recommend this book to those who like Christian historical fiction, or historical fiction set in England in the late 1800’s. I plan to keep reading Lawana Blackwell, even though her focus is not romance, because she weaves such rich, intricate (and authentic) tales.
4 people found this helpful
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R. Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars: The Maiden of Mayfair by Lawana Blackwell
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2016
Verified Purchase
Naomi convinces her elderly employer, Mrs. Blake, to find her late son's illegitimate child; Mrs. Blake ends up bringing Sarah to live with her, not learning for years that Sarah is not actually her granddaughter.

Best bits: Stellar characterization. There are so many great characters that I'm not even going to start. Well crafted, well told, and highly enjoyable. I loved how often the specific date was relayed in the story itself; evidence of a well planned book. Not preachy, and no large overarching life lessons presented over the course of the book, just faith lived out, or not. Solid examples of morality, of the weight of deception, of owning up to mistakes, of the value of giving your heart only to someone who truly earns it, etc, etc.

Issues: Some formatting-type errors (missing quotation marks, misplaced paragraph breaks, etc.) but nothing more than that. The way part 1 and part 2 were so boldly labeled with the first day of the part bugged me a bit. The way it was presented made it at first seem that ALL of part 1 took place on the same day, and ALL of part 2 on another day, when that was not at all the case. In fact, only a tiny fraction of part 1 was that initial day, then it jumped nearly a year for the rest of it. Minor irritant, but still.
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Top reviews from other countries

Pam
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this story!!
Reviewed in Australia on April 21, 2017
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This delightfully light book was a joy to read!!! It was simple and charming, and told a story of a young girl - Sarah - and how she became loved by many and eventually inherited much wealth. This story is told in a Christian manner with many Biblical quotes, and prayers of the protagonists. It is a light Christian romance, and I loved it!!! In spite of the fact that I usually abhor romance stories.
Despite it obviously having Christian beliefs, it is not overly laid on, and is just another part of the total story.
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Barbara
4.0 out of 5 stars Avid reader
Reviewed in Italy on November 1, 2016
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It was a very good read with good characters. I was so pleased that it didn't fall into the usual traps and hindrances which occur in this type of novel.
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Becci
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Story L- a must read!!!
Reviewed in Canada on April 21, 2016
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Lawana has written quite a few wonderful stories and this one included. I love reading about this time in history, to me it seems the characters have a deeper quality and a stronger sense of what faith and living it is all about.
One person found this helpful
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S Cartwright
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book by this author
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2013
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I thoroughly enjoyed the Gresham Chronicles by this author so actively looked for more novels written by her. This is easily as good, it really held my attention as I became more in involved with the characters. Definitely recommended if you like this type of gentle stories with a Christian ethos.
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Beverley Seale
5.0 out of 5 stars I so enjoyed this book!
Reviewed in Canada on March 4, 2016
Verified Purchase
I did not want this book to end, it was that good. It is like I was transported back to a more genteel time. The characters felt like family and the story line excellent! A must read.
One person found this helpful
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