by Jennifer Delamere
“She might not know exactly where she was going, but she had to believe the right path was out there and that she would find it.”
Line by Line
A seasoned telegrapher, Alice McNeil has recently acquired a coveted position at an important trading firm, but when the company’s ambitious junior director returns to London, things begin to change in ways Alice could never have imagined. For Douglas Shaw, years of hard work and ingenuity enabled him to escape a life of grinding poverty. He’s also determined to marry into high society–a step that will ensure he never returns to the conditions of his past. He and Alice form a friendly relationship based on mutual respect, but anything deeper is not in their plans. However, when Alice accidentally raises the ire of a jealous and vindictive coworker who’s intent on ruining her life, Alice and Douglas are forced to confront what is truly important in their lives. Will their growing bond give them the courage to risk finding a better way?
Having grown up in a home where marriage was sacred and a gift, I have never understood why a woman would decide to live the life of a spinster (keyword is decide). When I first began the book, I struggled to relate to Alice McNeil who at a young age resolved to travel through life unencumbered by love or marriage. I have never thought marriage to be something to which you can be “encumbered”, but reading this book has given me a new perspective on women of this era. Alice sought to make herself known through her career and thought that a life spent with a husband and children was a wasted one, or at least the waste of the woman’s ability. And for many women, marriage meant giving up a career or a passion of interest to them. But, not in every case. I believe love and marriage strengthen a woman. The support of a family and husband will boost a woman’s success, not remove it. And as Alice learns, God often has more in store for us than we ever imagine.
Now onto my thoughts on the book itself. I enjoyed reading about an era in which I don’t usually read about. I honestly do not know much about telegraphy and have always been curious about how it works. The technology itself is amazing. What used to take weeks or months to receive could take minutes to hours. The ability to send information quickly between cities, countries, and even across the ocean changed our world as we know it. Now we have email, text messaging, telephones, but it all stems from the telegraph. I loved learning about morse code as well. I have always wondered how it worked. Jennifer Delamere made it sound like an art. The rhythms and tempo of it relating to dance.
Having a real-life rags to riches story of Andrew Carnegie to compare Douglas Shaw to was a nice addition. What a fascinating man! Many of his quotes and philosophies are present in the book, and his victory trek to his home city in Scotland with his mother.
The romance between Alice and Douglas was sweet and inspiring. Neither of them was looking for love, but love they found nonetheless. And where is the best place to fall in love? A bookstore! And how do you learn how to fall in love? A book, of course! I appreciated Alice’s journey as she began to discover what she really wanted in life. It was a slow process but most journeys that are truly life-changing are! They start small, but end up changing the course of our lives!
As more true to life, I appreciated how everything did not work out the way they intended for them to. Sometimes things don’t work out, and often for the better!
I was given a free copy of the book, but the opinions in this review are completely my own.
I look forward to more from this series, but for now, Line by Line will be released June 30th.
The Red Review: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
***4 Hearts: Compelling Characters, Well-Written, Interesting Storyline, Unable to Stop
The Red Review 