Erica Eisdorfer

Susan Rose may be a simple country girl, but she's not stupid. She's honest with herself, even when she's deceitful enough to do what she feels has to be done to keep herself together. Growing up the daughter of a wet nurse, (someone who nurses babies for pay), she's seen babies grow & thrive, & sadly enough, she's also seen them die. When she becomes pregnant with her first child, her mother takes a pragmatic approach, but her abusive & conniving father can only see pound signs as he consigns her to a family "in town" & makes her leave her own baby behind with her mother.

This is a story of love, compassion, & the fact that a mother's love for her child knows no bounds, & will drive her to do anything to keep that child safe.… (altro)

Susan Rose is a servant in a grand 19th-century household, but after becoming pregnant, she has no choice but to leave that career and begin a new one as a wet nurse, tending to rich ladies' children at the expense of her own.

While Susan's life certainly has a lot of sadness and injustice in it, this story never becomes bleak, and even while it's describing some rather tragic things, the novel remains engaging and enjoyable. Mostly that's due to the fact that Susan is such a wonderfully clever and lively character; although she does a few things I can't bring myself to approve of, it's simply impossible not to like her.

I think the story does get a teeny bit far-fetched by the end, talking on a few aspects of Victorian melodrama that I wasn't really expecting, but despite that, I still turned the last page feeling satisfied.

Basically, a good, quick, entertaining read.… (altro)