Review: The Awakening of Miss Prim

This week is one in which moms may find themselves with some free time for reading.  The school schedule has been set aside and the activities are on hiatus until the new year. Perhaps you have an Amazon or Audible gift card to spend?  If so I can highly recommend The Awakening of Miss Prim. I loved it so much that I thought I would do a short review for you. No spoilers though. 🙂

This is really a delightful book, perfect for vacation reading.  I brought it with me on our Thanksgiving vacation to South Carolina and it was the perfect companion to a relaxing morning with a cup of coffee and a big comfy chair.

The novel is set in the small village of San Ireneo de Arnois, a quiet peaceful community of home and small business owners who have escaped the clamor of the outside world for a variety of reasons but all are striving to live a more genteel and refined life.  Miss Prim arrives to take a job cataloging the library of the Man in the Wing Chair (who is never named) in order to escape the noise in her head. She’s a witty, intelligent woman who has very definite opinions about the world, life in general and how it should be lived.  Her sparring with her new boss is delightful to read (although it often gives her a headache).   It’s a very well written novel, a rarity nowadays. The grammar is impeccable and the prose a pleasure to read.  The author, Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera has set the bar quite high with this, her first novel.

Catholics will recognize the Benedictine traditions by which many of the characters live in the novel and homeschool moms will love the villagers approach to education.  Fans of Louisa May Alcott and Jane Austen will love Miss Prim’s impassioned defense of these novelists and their place in a child’s (especially a girl’s) education. The literary references throughout the novel are a joy to an avid reader.

I borrowed this book from the library to read but I did purchase it because I can see it being the type of book I will read again and again, as well as having my older girls read.

This review is all my own opinion, no one asked me to do it and no one paid me :).

I do hope you pick up this lovely book and I also hope it is the first of many from this author.