(4 / 5)– It’s Worth It!
It was a cold, snowy day when I finally cracked the spine of Mimi Matthews’ “A Holiday by Gaslight.” A legitimate snow day where my children remained under foot and I just wanted to read, but I needed something light and easily accessible between the constant interruptions and chaos of children home from school. “A Holiday by Gaslight” was the perfect distraction and a delightful romantic escape.
Set in Victorian England it is a well known context that is easily accessible and imagined with an atmosphere and romance reminiscent of Jane Austen or Elizabeth Gaskill. The reader is dropped directly into the moment of conflict between the protagonists and then given a bit of backstory while they take a journey to resolve said conflict. There are certainly tropes of emotionally repressed men misunderstood by all except the woman who truly knows them and the duty of women to save their ridiculous family, but somehow when they are set in Victorian England they don’t frustrate me all that much.
All this to say, this novella is worth a read. I will most likely keep it on my shelf for when I long for a quick one-day read set at Christmas and has a happy ending.
Happy Reading!
Hannah
