Madeline Hathaway is ready for her favorite Renaissance Faire. And she’s not. It’s been almost a year since she lost her mother to cancer. She had spent most of her life on the road with her parents, working Ren Fest after Ren Fest. It’s all she knows. That and grief. Now she’s back for her favorite Renaissance Faire, at the one that was her mother’s favorite, at the one that was the last one her mother could attend, and everything is different. Madeline looks around her, and literally everything is different.
It had been dusty paths and a fake castle. Now the paths are all paved, the structures are all sturdy, and the castle is real. There is an actual castle, with a real moat, on the Faire grounds. For Madeline, this is disappointing. She had been looking forward to spending the summer there, remembering her mother and trying to think of what to do with her life. She has one more year of her online high school, and then she has to make decisions about her future. Instead, she is standing at a moat, wondering what happened to her plans.
As she stares into the water of the moat, Madeline is interrupted by a young bard who tries to cheer her up. He calls her Gwen and tries to sing her songs, but she stops him. Arthur is unstoppable, however, and ends up not only becoming an acquaintance but also talking Maddie into becoming the princess of the Faire and going on adventures with him during the week.
As the days and then the weeks go by, Maddie finds herself enjoying her time with Arthur more and more. She adds her good feelings to her journal. Since her mom died, Maddie has been marking things in her journal, like talks with her dad or calls with her best friend. Her therapist calls it her noticing, and Maddie feels compelled to make her marks, so that she doesn’t lose anyone or anything else that she treasures. But as her life fills up with good feelings and good times, she finds that she has less time for the noticing.
Maddie’s world seems to grow through the weeks she spends with Arthur and his compassionate way of helping her face her fears. But when she’s faced with a possible heartbreak again, will she take the chance at happiness, or will she hide away with her journal and her noticing and her grief?
The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway is a sweet romance about grief and growing up, about dealing with insecurity and isolation, about opening up to road trips, video games, coloring, and actual friendship. This book has a lot of kindness and gentleness, which is good, because there is also a lot of pain and sadness. But this journey is important and healing and filled with laughter and lovely surprises.
I found a lot to love with The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway. Maddie is a fantastic character with flaws and strengths and beauty and confusion, and I adored her. Author Ashley Schumacher has crafted this adorable romance and then set it at a Renaissance Faire, with all the vendors and pageantry and camel jousting to add fun and adventure. While there were a few tears shed during this book, I had lots of laughs too, and I really appreciated the kindness and compassion in these relationships. This is simply an enchanting story, and I am grateful that fate dropped it into my library.
Egalleys for The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway were provided by Wednesday Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.
