Jane Eyre meets The Golden Compass.....
This is one of those books that reads like historical fiction then all of a sudden you realize that it has major fantasy elements. Kind of a “whoops, I guess we’re not in Kansas after all” moment. In this case, this reads like the late 19th century until you learn that most books are blasphemous and there’s an alternate religion based on birds. Really, birds – the Great Eagle is the Almighty. The political structure is different too, as the aristrocrats are Ministers in the government that is considered the mouthpiece of the gods on Earth. The Lord Protector is the head of the Ministration and is involved in the plot as he comes to Murkmere for Leah’s debut birthday.
This book is historical fiction/fantasy/mystery with some retold fairy tale (the swan maiden) too! There’s also political intrigue and questions about religion. I really enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s well written and the plot soars along.
Highly recommended to anyone who likes any of the above genres! ( )

I remember reading Frankenstein as a teen with that giddy sense that not only was I reading a classic, but that I was joining the Shelleys and Keats and Byron and the world of the romantic poets that I loved at the time. The actual text, with its gothic feel, left me somewhat cold. Full disclosure: I also could not shake the images spawned by the Boris Karloff. I am not much of a gothic fantasy lover and one look at this cover had me convinced it is not a book for me. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! What a clever, beautifully told story, with depth and layers of meaning! Aggie is Leah’s companion at Murkmere Hall—a perfect name for this gray, gothic structure. An avian theology governs this rustic location and Aggie is very religious. When Leah finds a dead swan and risks damnation, Aggie is forced to reexamine her own views. How do we find and know the truth? The government is filled with corruption. Religious practice is filled with hypocrisy. The parallels between this gothic fantasy and our own real world intersect beautifully in this surprising gem of a book. Especially worthwhile are the book’s exploration of mythology and the role of birds. Recommended for sophisticated middle school readers and high school libraries

Murkmere by Patricia Elliot - interesting but slow in parts. Aggie is a peasant with a secret, she can read. She is sent as a companion to the Manor House where she meets people with darker and more dangerous secrets. Can she make it through alive? Can she separate the good people from the evil people? Yeah, well, you already know the answer but the story gets you to that answer along a path that seems familiar but twists nicely. ( )

I would actually give this book 3 or 2.5 stars for the first few chapters then 5 stars for every other chapter. This book is set in a very different belief system then ours, based on birds, which is never really explained. It makes sense as the book goes along, but makes it hard to get into the story at first. It is a gloomy sort of slow to develop story, which does develop into a great story . . . if you stick with it. Its a good sort of Jane Eyre kind of gloom. Characters are not always what they seem, so stick with it and you will not be disappointed. ( )

Aggie leaves her home to live as companion to Leah, the ward of Murkmere Hall. Leah and Aggie are allowed to access books and information banned by the Ministration. As Aggie learns more about the divine beings she has been raised to follow and obey, she comes to realize that history and people are not always what they seem. ( )