Mother by Kathleen Thompson Norris

This is a very light but pleasant read about a young woman who is disillusioned with her lot in life (one of seven children in a small rundown house in a small rundown town) and longs for the "real life" of pleasure and ease.

By coincidence she meets a high society lady who offers her a job as a private secretary in the woman's NY family mansion. She finally experiences life as she imagined it. But is it all it's chalked up to be? And what happens when your beau finds out your true origins? Will all be lost?

And at the crux of the story is Margaret's mother, the true hero of the story...

Its a sweet read but it didn't thrill me. I found it rather syrupy to be honest. Its the kind of book where you know just where the author is going with it, there's really no surprises, but its still a pleasant diversion.

But here's something to note: while I applaud motherhood and its many joys, there is a fairly heavy 'moralizing' tone throughout the book extolling the virtues of a woman's place (childrearing) and I felt bad for any woman reading this in years past who simply couldnt have children or maybe just wasn't "that type of woman" and therefore not up to scratch. You're either a self-sacrificing mother of a tribe of children or you're selfish. I didn't see a balance there.

If you can get past that, its a cute story. 

CONTENT: G