Manor of Secrets

Longshore (Gilt; Tarnish) will delight fans of British period pieces %C3%A0 la Downton Abbey as she introduces 16-year-old Lady Charlotte Edmonds and Janie Seward, a kitchen maid, both of whom yearn to throw caution to the wind. Charlotte's mother, Lady Diane, plans for her to marry Lord Andrew Broadhurst, the dull but stable heir to an earldom, who will assure that Charlotte's dreams are confined to her imagination. After living in extreme poverty with her relatives, Janie is reunited with her mother in the manor's kitchen. While Janie loves to cook, she feels displaced, and house rules forbid her to act on her growing affection for a childhood friend. Charlotte's loneliness and a burgeoning interest in a dashing new footman draw her downstairs, where she and Janie form a clandestine partnership to uncover the meaning behind an unexpected visitor's arrival. Drama between servants, an approaching shooting party and ball, and the interlacing of social classes thicken the plot. Longshore excels at switching between the girls' perspectives as she intimately explores two richly detailed worlds. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. Agent: Catherine Drayton, Inkwell Management. (Jan.)