What I’ve Been Reading: The Flight of Gemma Hardy

I just finished up listening to the book The Flight of Gemma Hardy: A Novel (P.S.) by Margot Livesey.

It was good.  It definitely falls under the novel category.

The story starts with Gemma living with her uncle’s wife and children.  Her parents have died.  Her uncle then dies and her uncle’s wife doesn’t like her nor does she treat her with dignity.   The story finds Gemma trying her find her way through the world with little to no stable figure in her life.

Here’s what Amazon had to say about it, “Taken from her native Iceland to Scotland in the early 1950s when her widower father drowns at sea, young Gemma Hardy comes to live with her kindly uncle and his family. But his death leaves Gemma under the care of her resentful aunt, and she suddenly finds herself an unwelcome guest. Surviving oppressive years at a strict private school, Gemma ultimately finds a job as an au pair to the eight-year-old niece of Mr. Sinclair on the Orkney Islands—and here, at the mysterious and remote Blackbird Hall, Gemma’s greatest trial begins.”

I was reading some of the reviews there.  Many people didn’t rate it really high because they thought the book models Jane Erye and didn’t do a good job modeling it.  I haven’t read Jane Erye so I can’t comment on that.  All in all I’d give it four stars.  A good read…didn’t leave me longing for more…but definitely kept my attention.