Serabelle

Author: Tavi Taylor Black

Publisher: Black Rose Writing

Release Date: April 24, 2024

Good premise, but felt disjointed throughout the story.

Mabel Rae was born into servanthood, but always felt greater aspirations.  Not an easy thing to accomplish in the early 1900s between class and gender.  When she becomes of age, she takes on a position as a maid in an upscale estate in Bar Harbor, Maine. She begins her career in defiance by going up to the main house, where the butler quickly sends her to the servants quarters.  When he receives attention from the master of the house, she gives in quickly and dreams of becoming the lady of the manor.  But when she discovers she is pregnant, she learns the hard truth of her life and her social class.

I really felt that this book had a great premise and was excited to read something different. However, the story took several different pathways throughout and sometimes felt disjointed when reading between the different characters.  It did make me do some fact checking and seemed to be pretty accurate overall for the time period.  The setting was the best part of the whole book and carried most of the story for me. 

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher.  The views and opinions expressed within are my own.