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A School for Unusual Girls A Stranje House Novel Kathleen Baldwin Books

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A School for Unusual Girls A Stranje House Novel Kathleen Baldwin Books

Kathleen Baldwin has managed to win me over to the historical fiction genre in a big way with A School for Unusual Girls. I must admit I initially purchased this book for my fifteen year old granddaughter who I was sure would enjoy it, both for her love of history and for her strong and intelligent personality, which seemed to me at first glance to also be an apt description of the main character. As I scanned the book before giving it to her, I realized that it had also grabbed my own interest and I ordered a second copy, both coming from Amazon. I’m so glad I did! There is so much fun stuff, I don’t want to give it away – but just know to settle in for a captivating read filled with strong and spunky heroines, handsome heroes, scientific experiments that sometimes go awry with lethal consequences, and ultimately a journey of maturation and finding one’s place; all back-dropped by an unstable and inflammatory time in European history where the individual decisions of the residents of Stranje House are pivotal in influencing the events swirling chaotically at a rapid pace around them.

The author takes the reader on a journey that leaves one reluctant to stop. Not only does she transport us to another time and place, she manages to make us identify with these unusual girls who have troubled pasts and to root for them. A wonderful message of redemption for those who do not feel compelled to follow the established rules of society but seek to remain true to their own calling, is woven through the story’s themes of transformation, love, and responsibility. Kathleen Baldwin writes with a masterful grasp of plot and pacing, keeping the reader thoroughly enticed with just enough mystery and intrigue (and the occasional breathtaking hint of romance). She strikes that amazing balance of fully satisfying at quintessential moments, yet leaving us yearning for the story to continue. Fortunately it does, in the next novel in the Stranje House series: Exiles for Dreamers. I have already purchased my copy and I’m looking forward to immersing myself in the next adventure that the Stranje House has in store!


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A School for Unusual Girls A Stranje House Novel Kathleen Baldwin Books Reviews

Georgiana Fitzwilliam (YES, just like Fitzwilliam Darcy) is an unusual girl.

She likes science. *shudders delicately* She also has red hair and freckles in a society that abhors both. But it's her love of experiments that is perceived to be the greater of evils . . . *whispers* Well bred young ladies DO NOT science.

And when her father's stable and a quarter of a neighboring orchard burns to ash as a direct result of one of said experiments, her parents have had enough.

They pack her up and dump her out at Stranje House, a boarding school rumored to employ such barbarous practices as TORTURE to transform the exceptional daughters of the upper classes into unexceptional, but infinitely more marriageable, ladies.

After touring the dungeon (at her father's behest), observing the rack (not currently in use), and witnessing two girls strapped into hideous contraptions (one of them a sarcophagus equipped with nails), Georgiana decides she'd rather run than be subjected to such mistreatment.

Instead of an exit, she discovers a hidden passageway, and upon further exploration, she overhears two men--GASP!--discussing the very experiment that got her sent to Stranje House, in the first place.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?! *giggle snorts*

It means that things aren't as they appear, of course.

Except for the fact that her parents are wretched for leaving her in a place they believed to be as awful as Stranje House . . .

There’s no escaping that fact for poor Georgiana.

But Miss Stranje gives her an opportunity to do what she loves, to make a difference, to make a significant contribution to the world, and she grabs onto it with both hands.

And Georgiana isn't alone at Stranje House.

Among the other girls, only Lady Jane has a gift the can be construed as mundane (a flair for making estates profitable), while the others have . . . more unusual gifts. There's Tess, who has prophetic dreams and seems to understand animals, Sera, who sees the truth of things, and Maya, whose voice is strangely compelling.

But why is Miss Stranje collecting these outcasts of society? Why are such extreme measures being taken to ensure there will be no interference from their (despicable) relations?

Read it and find out. *winks*

A SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS by Kathleen Baldwin . . . is utterly and delightfully . . . ridiculous. The next time you need a pretty bit of fluff to cleanse your palate, I highly recommend you give this one a try. If you're unsure, try the preview chapters. That's what I did, and I was hooked before I reached its end.
I enjoyed many things about this story, like the setting, the alternate history "facts", the strong, smart girls at Stranje House, the dreamy heroes, the main villian and her machinations, etc. The only thing I didn't much like (and it is a big issue) is the supposed "heroine", Georgiana. I seriously wanted to shake her several times during the book, and I have to wonder just how incredibly lucky she was in having survived for so long while being so carelessly stupid. I can't blame her parents too much for being disappointed in her.

The list of idiotic things Georgiana does during the story are many, starting with the fact that she burned down her father's stables due to somehow not remembering that hay is combustible while doing chemical experiments surrounded by it. It is by mere luck that no people were harmed due to her carelessness. She tried to escape from Stranje House in a boat and nearly drowned herself. She was completely pathetic against Daneska, letting herself be dragged away with little resistance and barely able to talk back while Daneska openly mocked her. There are other things, but I'm too lazy to list them all. I honestly consider Georgiana a moron who is good at chemistry despite having no common sense. There is some hope for her though, as she at least matures a little by the end of the book.

The best part of the book, however, are the other Stranje girls, especially Tess and her romantic interest, Lord Ravencross, they were the true focus of the story for me. I am looking forward to read more about her and the rest of the girls.
Kathleen Baldwin has managed to win me over to the historical fiction genre in a big way with A School for Unusual Girls. I must admit I initially purchased this book for my fifteen year old granddaughter who I was sure would enjoy it, both for her love of history and for her strong and intelligent personality, which seemed to me at first glance to also be an apt description of the main character. As I scanned the book before giving it to her, I realized that it had also grabbed my own interest and I ordered a second copy, both coming from . I’m so glad I did! There is so much fun stuff, I don’t want to give it away – but just know to settle in for a captivating read filled with strong and spunky heroines, handsome heroes, scientific experiments that sometimes go awry with lethal consequences, and ultimately a journey of maturation and finding one’s place; all back-dropped by an unstable and inflammatory time in European history where the individual decisions of the residents of Stranje House are pivotal in influencing the events swirling chaotically at a rapid pace around them.

The author takes the reader on a journey that leaves one reluctant to stop. Not only does she transport us to another time and place, she manages to make us identify with these unusual girls who have troubled pasts and to root for them. A wonderful message of redemption for those who do not feel compelled to follow the established rules of society but seek to remain true to their own calling, is woven through the story’s themes of transformation, love, and responsibility. Kathleen Baldwin writes with a masterful grasp of plot and pacing, keeping the reader thoroughly enticed with just enough mystery and intrigue (and the occasional breathtaking hint of romance). She strikes that amazing balance of fully satisfying at quintessential moments, yet leaving us yearning for the story to continue. Fortunately it does, in the next novel in the Stranje House series Exiles for Dreamers. I have already purchased my copy and I’m looking forward to immersing myself in the next adventure that the Stranje House has in store!