Tillie Reese has been brought up by her mother with the hope of becoming a lady’s maid — that special confidante and helper of a wealthy woman who gets the pretty clothes, travel, freedom, and easy life that parlormaid Tillie can only dream of.
When Tillie goes into service at Biltmore, the palatial home of the Vanderbilt family, she sets her sights on the ultimate prize job: lady’s maid to Edith Vanderbilt.
Just as it looks as though Tillie’s dreams might come true, her life becomes more complicated. The particular complication she has to deal with is Mack Danvers, the disturbingly handsome twin brother of a footman. Tillie is given the task of polishing Mack’s manners, but she learns more about him — and about the unthinkable things that are happening in the orphanage in town, where Mack’s little sister is in care.
Mack plans to earn enough to get his orphaned younger siblings together and to take them back to their mountain home. Tillie plans to become Mrs. Vanderbilt’s personal maid. As the problems of the outside world begin to interfere with those plans, Tillie and Mack become closer to one another, and closer to God.
The story is engaging, with plenty of action and suspense. Gist brings Biltmore’s Gilded Age to life with lots of carefully-researched detail. The characters are fully developed and likeable. The love between Tillie and Mack grows convincingly. A pleasure to read.