Folly by Marthe Jocelyn

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (May 11, 2010)

Book summary: Three fates intertwine in this moving and passionate love story set in Victorian London.
Mary Finn: country girl, maid to a lord in London
Caden Tucker: liar, scoundrel, and heart's delight
James Nelligan: age six, tossed into a herd of boys
When Mary Finn falls into the arms of handsome Caden Tucker, their frolic changes the course of her life. What possesses her? She's been a girl of common sense until now. Mary's tale alternates with that of young James Nelligan, a new boy in an enormous foundling home.

My review: When I began reading Folly I wasn't sure what to make of it. I was put off by reading four different point-of-views. There is Mary Finn, 15, turned out of her home by a mean stepmother and working as a maid (the only told in first person while the others are all third); fellow maid Eliza, a jealous, conniving but dimwitted young woman; James, 6, taken from his foster parents' home to live and receive an education at the Foundling Home; and then Oliver, a nice teacher at the Home. By the end of the novel the shifting voices brought the story full circle and everything made sense. 

The story takes place in the London of the 1880s and from Mary's perspective we witness her growing up, made to leave home, being treated as a lowly servant, being discovered by a cute soldier she falls in love with and gets pregnant by. Eliza is jealous of Mary's red hair and green eyes, people seem to like her, and she hates the attention given to the new maid by one of the household help, an older man named Bates. During a different time we learn about James' plight, how he was forced to leave his foster mother and adapt to life in an institutionalized setting. Oliver is decent and has James' needs at heart. 

Once I began to understand the arc of the stories and what was going on--and when, which is important--Folly picked up and became engrossing. Jocelyn has a deft way of handling language and emotion, especially during a pivotal confrontational scene between Mary and Eliza on the day Mary asks for help with her pregnancy. The story is not happy, it was filled with heartbreak and melancholy, but there was a gentle undercurrent of hope and redemption which I picked up on in James' and Oliver's parts. 

There were parts throughout the story when I did want to know more about the characters, especially the secondary ones like Eliza. (I have noticed within the YA market a brevity with some novels. I like to have a quick read considering some of the larger tomes in my TBR pile, but is the striving for shorter lengths worth the risk if it leaves readers wanting more?) 

Folly is a quick paced historical novel filled with heartbreak, first love, despair, decisions and chances, and is well worth experiencing for the richness of the time period it conveys and a cast of interesting characters.

Rating: +++1/2

Favorite excerpt: "it was resolve alone that carried me from that hour through the days that followed. There were no more fairytale old ladies arriving in carriages. There were no forgiveness from wicked stepmothers. There were no second chances at marrying the handsome prince or the other one, disguised as a frog. It were early autumn and not dead winter, which is why I am alive to tell the tale.

I began where I'd left off before meeting Miss Kaye, seeking refuge in churches, no matter which saint were on the door. I now were clearly fallen, however, as I had you in my arms, and a woman's folly allows for little kindness even from God. Details will not enhance the tale, and remembering won't change the end. All my fears were laid out true before me. You were sickly, I were sicker. One morning I awoke to utter silence, worse by far than hungry whimpering. I shook the blanket in alarm and only then did you startle faintly. . . .

My choice were finally this: Go to the workhouse, taking you with me, where death were likely, and, according to Nut, horrors were certain. Or forsake you, my only precious boy, at the Foundling Hospital, where you might be raised not knowing how your mother tried, nor how she loved you enough to say goodbye." (Pages 228-229.)

Cover comment: Interesting cover depicting Mary Finn. A bit dark, but considering the book's subject matter, quite fitting.

Book source: Around the World tours