Dear Maude by Denise Liebig

Dear Maude is Book 1 of The Dear Maude Trilogy written by Denise Liebig.

Emily Stanton manages to graduate from college under a scholarship from Evergreen Research Corporation with the strict condition that she will work for the company after graduation. Smart and tough albeit a little bit naïve and with high moral standards, Emily proves to be much more than another former scholarship student but a great asset to the company. However, as Emily learns eventually, Evergreen Research is not an ordinary nor a traditional employer. The type of research they are engaged in is something Emily never thought possible, going back in time and changing the past to benefit a few. 

When Emily realizes that the people around her are not what she thinks they are, she finds out how vulnerable she is in a place and a time where and when she has no one and she has nothing except a journal she writes on as she pretends to communicate with her deceased aunt Maude and takes comfort in one familiar object, an old suitcase that belonged to her dead great aunt.  

This is a very interesting, intriguing, absorbing and thought-provoking book that will keep the reader glued to every page. To borrow a line from Alice in Wonderland, it keeps getting ‘curiouser and curiouser.’ Moreover, though time travel is not at all a very original concept, the events that take place in the story make up for the banality of the subject matter. The corsets, the gowns, the balls, the trip to the opera and the horseback riding and other lessons give the story glamor and substance that make this book very enjoyable to read.  The author creates admirable and endearing protagonists as well as shameless and contemptible villain.     

Though the book is part of a trilogy, it can be read and enjoyed as a standalone and the ending, though a little cliffhanger, is not only satisfactory but also satisfying.

Congratulations to Denise Liebig (@DeniseWithWords ) on such a great book! For more books by the author, click HERE.