The beautiful cover alone piqued my interest in this book, and after reading the synopsis I just knew that I was going to love this gorgeous book, and I really did!
Such an exciting start to the story, I was completely drawn into the going’s on and it did not let up at all throughout the book!
Such wonderful characters and an amazing storyline, a great combination of historical fiction and a heartwarming romance.
I found the details well written and very informative and I loved the unexpected moments too!
A brilliant first novel, I’m already looking forward to reading more from this fantastic author.

Book blurb

It’s 1911 and, against her mother’s wishes, quiet New Yorker Emma dreams of winning the right to vote. She is sent away by her parents in the hope distance will curb her desire to be involved with the growing suffrage movement and told to spend time learning about where her grandparents came from.

Across the Atlantic – Queenstown, southern Ireland – hotelier Thomas dreams of being loved, even noticed, by his actress wife, Alice. On their wedding day, Alice’s father had assured him that adoration comes with time. It’s been eight years. But Alice has plans of her own and they certainly don’t include the fight for equality or her dull husband.

Emma’s arrival in Ireland leads her to discover family secrets and become involved in the Irish Women’s Suffrage Society in Cork. However, Emma’s path to suffrage was never meant to lead to a forbidden love affair…

About the author

Kate Baker wrote terrible holiday diaries as a child, which her husband regularly asks her to read out loud for their entertainment. She has since improved and has written with intent since 2018. Maid of Steel is her second novel; the first is lining drawers in the vegetable rack at their farmhouse.

Kate writes short stories and is presently drafting a second novel. Maid of Steel is her first full length novel to be published. 

She writes at a desk covered in to-do lists and lights candles in the hope the lists disappear in the shadows.

She lives in East Anglia in the UK with her husband where they attempt to look after farmland for generations to come.

A small, very small, dog can be frequently found on Kate’s lap. Otis is her first miniature dachshund.

Link to Amazon Maid of Steel https://amzn.eu/d/j9qnvaT