The Invention of Sarah Cummings: Christian Fiction Book review

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    The Invention of Sarah Cummings:  Sarah Cummings has one goal in life--to break into Chicago's high society. Desperate to stop serving dinner to members of the wealthy Banning family and to start eating at society tables, Sarah spends her meager free time altering cast-off gowns to create the perfect wardrobe for her future life.

     When opportunity knocks at a chance meeting, she presents herself as Serena Cuthbert, weaving a fictitious past to go with her fictitious name. But as she gets closer to her goal--and closer to Simon Tewell, director of St. Andrew's Orphanage--Sarah finds that she must choose between the life she has and the life she dreams of.

     Can she piece together the perfect life from scraps? Or will it all come unraveled in the face of true love?

Author Olivia Newport

    Author Olivia Newport has been married for over thirty years and has two twenty-something kids. They live in stunning Colorado at the foot of the Rockies, where the day lilies in her backyard grow as tall as she is. (No short jokes, please.)

    Not every piece of her life is pretty, though. Some days, she wants to throw out whole chunks. But she is living each day looking for the grace of God to her, in her, and through her. She views her readers as her companions, and having companionship along the way will help uncover a lot of great stories.

Joy In Our Journey's review:

    The Invention of Sarah Cummings seems like a somewhat preposterous story, based on need and deceit:  a young, nearly 20-year-old girl was orphaned in her pre-teen years and lived in a large orphanage until placed into “service” in a wealthy home.  Sarah has, for years, realized that she was not meant for a life of servitude, that she really belonged on the “other side” where she would be the one served and would surely deserve the good treatment given to those who were on the “other side.”  A chance meeting with a wealthy young woman gives Sarah the chance to become one of them---and she begins inventing her new personality and thus, a life of challenging deceit in regard to those around her.  She is so immersed in this new personality that she sometimes has to actually tell lies and imperils her placement as a servant.

    Sarah’s dream is to meet and marry a wealthy man; she is extremely surprised at the outcome of this “dream” and finally matures enough to meet the challenge and discover that her heart can open to much greater opportunities.  Some will say “imagination is everything,” but that is not always a realistic point of view.  Sarah has lots of lessons to learn and teach.

    This story takes place shortly after the Chicago World’s Fair in the very late 1890’s and also encompasses the political conventions and presidential campaign taking place at that time.  There is much history involved in this narrative, and Sarah is caught up in the many events taking place.  Sarah is encouraged as a woman in that era to begin taking charge and helping to meet the needs of others, rather than focusing solely on herself.  If you enJOY fictional works taking place in this era, you will enjoy The Invention of Sarah Cummings!

I received a copy of this book for review, but was not compensated financially in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based solely on my experiences while reading this book.

    In the interest of full disclosure, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive an affiliate commission. I only recommend products I use personally. Your purchases through these links help support Joy In Our Journey. I humbly thank you for your support.

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