A Governess of Great Talents
The Governess Bureau, Book 1
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A Governess of Great Talents
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Narrated by:
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Jessica Bright
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By:
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Emily EK Murdoch
About this listen
When a governess of great talents is required, there is only one place the nobility of England go: the Governess Bureau.
It was why Miss Meredith Hubert had worked so hard to gain her place there. Finishing with the Earl of Marnmouth's children, she is about to be given her next assignment—a Duke called Alfred Carmichael with a reputation to maintain and a half-brother who needs controlling.
Archibald is but eight years old, but already threatens to ruin the family's reputation as Alfred, the Duke, tries to maintain it. They have to be spotless as there are other families who wish to take their place in society. But Meredith has a secret to hide, and she's not the only one. Maids sent away in secret, items missing from the house—there is more than one mystery at Rochdale Abbey.
When a Duke falls in love with a governess, there's only one way this can end—in scandal.
As Alfred Carmichael tries desperately to retain his family's honor and fight his desire of Meredith, how will Meredith's Great Talents ensure a happily ever after for them all?
©2021 Emily EK Murdoch (P)2022 TantorContinue the series
However, this book is TERRIBLE! So much wrong with it...
Firstly, a main plot point is about a Duke trying to get elected to the House of Commons as a MP. This would never happen since peers aren't allowed to stand for Parliament! So all that storyline was ridiculous.
Then, the "hero" (the Duke) is completely pathetic, his only redeeming feature is his wealth. He is a very weak personality who lets others tell him what to do. He fondles the governess but then ignores her. He thinks he loves her but suddenly (on NO evidence whatsoever!) he decides she's a thief and throws her out. For some reason she's still into him even though she should be running a mile.
Also there are endless scenes repeating the same thoughts of the characters without advancing the plot.
The narrator does her best with a terrible book but I skipped forward a lot to try to get to actual plot.
Really, don't waste a credit on this!
Ludicrous plot, unbelievable characters, don't bother!
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The major errors ruin the entire story.
A minor duke, repeated. No such thing. Apart from royalty, dukes are the highest level of the peerage.
A main part of the story is that he is an elected MP trying to get re-elected. But peers could not stand for election. They are automatically in the House of Lords and would have to petition parliament to give up their title. It was extremely rare and if permitted they would not be a duke. (There were 2 cases of peers doing this in the 20th century but neither were dukes.)
The author’s attempt to explain this by writing: their dukedom "wasn't big enough to secure a seat in the House of Lords” is nonsense. A duke is a duke.
The governess has brought her own horse to the estate. This would never happen. Governesses were not paid enough to buy a horse and certainly would not be permitted to stable one in the duke's stable. Although the repeated statement she is a servant is also incorrect, her position is unique in a household, as a governess was usually a Lady from a minor branch that is poor or is gentile middle class, eg the daughter of a clergyman.
She would not think of the duke as her ‘master’ but would call him your grace and think of him as his grace.
Then the author writes that the duke wouldn't sleep in the master bedroom as it wasn't right to ‘step into the shoes of a dead man’. But that is exactly what happened when he inherited the title!
I wanted to give up in chapter 2 but skimmed through a couple more chapters in the hope it would get better.
The entire story is based an a false premise and a waste of money
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ay have been OKish if only the constant repetion of what you heard 10 minutes . Then again and again and again.
Irritating
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Not good
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