Maid Of Steel - Kate Baker

Maid Of Steel - Kate Baker - ★★★.¼

- April 03, 2024

AUTHOR: Kate Baker

GENRE: Historical Romance

RATING: 3.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A historical romance that is strong on history and good on romance. Loved the Irish setting. An interesting debut that aims a bit too wide.

Plot Preview:

New York, USA. 1911. When Emma, just recovering from a traumatic incident and loss, decides to become an active suffragist, her parents send her away to Ireland for some time not just to recuperate but also to get her mind off the activism. Though Emma is reluctant at first, she agrees for one secret reason: she wants to discover the workhouse her grandmother lived before immigrating to the USA.

Queenstown, Ireland. 1911. Hotelier Thomas is used to being taken for granted by his actress wife Alice. Married for a long time, he knows that Alice loves only her career and will do anything for success, including breaking her marriage vows. But as a Catholic, Thomas feels compelled to continue in the marriage.

When Emma arrives at Thomas’ hotel, she soon gets involved in various activities, but the last thing she expected was to get involved with Thomas.

The story comes to us in the third person perspectives of Emma, Thomas, and Alice.

The book began quite strongly for me. The harrowing details of the fire, possibly referencing the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911, and the situation of the women trapped inside make for a compelling beginning.

As most of the book is set in Ireland thanks to Emma’s long stay there, there are many historical details incorporated from the Irish side as well. We see glimpses of the Irish suffrage movement and the local resistance to the monarchy. We also see the trauma faced by returning soldiers (though my historical knowhow was not comprehensive enough to understand where the soldiers were ‘returning’ from), the state of the workhouses and the poor who lived in them during the famine, the construction of St Colman's Cathedral, and towards the end, a key historical accident. Courtesy Emma’s stay at the hotel and her interactions with Thomas and Alice, we also have romance, secret affairs, adultery, acting ambitions, women’s rights, and a big reveal about one of them that is actually easy to guess because of the hints provided earlier. Basically, this is yet another debut suffering from what I call the “kitchen sink syndrome” – it includes too much.

This is not to say that the accuracy of the historical events is questionable. On the contrary, I felt like the author is very passionate about history, and her research shows. I am still amazed by how much was included within a novel covering just a little more than a year. As a historical fiction fan, I loved learning about Irish historical events as we don’t often get to see those. However, I still wish that the focus on the novel has been more streamlined, staying limited to certain key events so that we could *feel* the impact better. Even Emma’s original intent of discovering her grandmother’s past, is achieved within the first quarter with hardly any hurdles.

The pacing of the book is quite fast, which is a positive. However, because of the sheer number of topics covered, I felt like it was rushing across the topics without pausing to explore them. In this sense, the book feels somewhat episodic, covering many whats but hardly any hows or whys.

It was interesting to have the third person perspectives of two women who are so opposite each other. Emma allows past trauma to guide her while Alice is motivated by future aspirations. Emma has a conscience, Alice seems to have none. Most of the book tells us Emma’s story, but I found Alice more intriguing. I wish her character detailing had been better because her motivations don’t come out clearly and the instant change in stance at the end is not convincing. Thomas feels relatively dull in front of the two vibrant women.

The romance theme was of secondary importance to me as I had grabbed this more for the history. But it does work if you are looking for a calm and clean romance. (There is adultery though, so ‘clean’ doesn’t equate to ‘Christian’ in this case.) On the pro side, Emma and Thomas both felt like caring humans, and were good for and with each other. However, the progress of the “relationship” felt very abrupt. I didn’t feel the development of their connection, and after a certain other ‘development’, the story felt even more distanced, though I must give it credit for not going the typical way.

The same opinion applies to the ending as well: I thought I could predict where the book was going, but the last quarter or so sprung some surprises my way. I am not sure how I feel about the neat finish, but as the book is promoted as a historical romance than just a historical fiction, it fulfils the requirement of a happy ending as per the genre.

All in all, this is a good debut with a strong historical base and fluid writing. Had it had stronger character development and a slightly restricted list of topics, it would have worked even better for me. Nevertheless, I appreciate the author’s keen eye for research and am curious to see what comes from her pen next.

A shoutout to the cover art that represents almost every aspect of the story so well.

Recommended to historical romance readers interested in a look at Ireland during 1911-12.

My thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and author Kate Baker for a complimentary copy of 'Maid Of Steel', and for allowing me to be a part of this first anniversary celebration blog tour. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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Blurb:

It’s 1911 and, against her mother’s wishes, quiet New Yorker Emma dreams of winning the right to vote. She is sent away by her parents in the hope distance will curb her desire to be involved with the growing suffrage movement and told to spend time learning about where her grandparents came from.

Across the Atlantic – Queenstown, southern Ireland – hotelier Thomas dreams of being loved, even noticed, by his actress wife, Alice. On their wedding day, Alice’s father had assured him that adoration comes with time. It’s been eight years. But Alice has plans of her own and they certainly don’t include the fight for equality or her dull husband.

Emma’s arrival in Ireland leads her to discover family secrets and become involved in the Irish Women’s Suffrage Society in Cork. However, Emma’s path to suffrage was never meant to lead to a forbidden love affair…

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