September ended up being a slow reading month for me – once I blazed through Outlander (see below), I had a difficult time settling on any one book. I had a few in my TBR stack, and several more library books sitting on my work desk, but each time, I would get only a few pages in before boredom or distraction would claim my attention and I’d put the book down, dissatisfied and wanting something else, just not sure what exactly. It was akin to the feeling you get when you’re in the mood for something to eat, but nothing in the cupboards looks remotely appealing.

Then I remembered a book I’d gotten from our library book sale, a historical novel by Jane Harris called The Observations. The book cover, with its corseted woman and copperplate writing, had caught my eye. The publisher’s had also smartly included a blurb by Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love) who called the book “a deliciously captivating tale of sex, ghosts, lies and mysteries.” Sold!

Since we are in the midst of Carl’s RIP Challenge, I figured The Observations would be a perfect specimen and brought it along with me on my second trip of the month, this time involving a plane ride to visit our friends in Virginia. Long periods of nothing to do but read seems to have been the secret to my success this month, as it wasn’t long before I was once again caught in a book’s spell. Much of it’s charm must be attributed to its narrator, Bessy, a sharp-witted young  Irish girl who finds herself working as a maid in Castle Haivers, a remote Scottish estate. Her odd and unconventional mistress, Arabella, is the sole resident of the house when Bessy arrives, as her husband is away on business. The two women forge a strange friendship, with weird and unexplainable demands from Arabella coupled by an ardent affection for her employer on Bessy’s part. Bessy’s saucy humor keeps the menacing tone from becoming too stifling, and her cunning resourcefulness in the face of deception and betrayal is pure genius. A true antiheroine, she is one of the most likeable characters I’ve encountered in recent memory, for not only does she have spunk and intelligence, but a sensitive and loving heart as well.

The Observations was Harris’ first novel, but I do hope it won’t be her last. Part historical fiction, part mystery, and part ghost story, Castle Haivers houses more than its share of secrets and while The Observations may not have been quite as titillating as Gilbert implied, it was still a book I enjoyed immensely and heartily recommend.