The Hired Girl is a delicate story of family, faith, and love. Janet has a secret, she isn't really Janet, she really is Joan. The family she works for doesn’t know this. The family she works for also doesn’t know that she isn’t 18 like she told them, but she is actually 14. One thing that they do know as truth; when they found her, she was a scared girl on the streets who had just run away from home. She was in desperate need of a home. Joan is a good Catholic girl, and the house she works at is a Jewish home, which might eventually cause some issues. Especially when she falls in love with one of the sons, and he has an issue with her being Catholic. While all of this is going on, Joan has to remember what she really is there to do, be a good little hired girl.
A friend recommended this book to me, and not being a huge historical fiction person, I was very impressed. I thought it gave great insight into the life of a hired girl in the time it was set. Also, I thought that the aspects concerning Joan growing and changing in her faith were very interesting. Overall, I would give this book a four out of five stars, leaving off one star because some parts in the rising action were quite slow and a bit boring, but the book was still enjoyable to read.