Review: The Maid of Ballymacool

The Maid of Ballymacool by Jennifer Deibel
My rating: 💛💛💛💛

Rating 4.5

“I often will have a person or situation that won’t leave my mind, no matter what I do.” She hung her dirty apron on the hook and put on her serving one. “And I’ve found that if I use those as reminders to pray for that person, I learn later that there was a reason for it. An illness, an accident, an important item that had been misplaced and needed finding. That sort o’ thing.”

I have found a new historical fiction author to love and enjoy and in the setting of Ireland I have not yet read much about.

This was the first book I have read by this author, but I immediately placed her other two published books on my 2023 TBR priority list.

Michael was a hero who will steal readers’ heart – he sure did mine. Even though he came from the higher society, he was not scared to step in for those weaker and who can’t fight for themselves. The small changes he implemented made huge differences. There were quite a few instances where I was thinking, “Yes Michael, you tell her!” Brianna was the perfect female lead, with her soft heart and gentleness which creeped into your heart softly and left an impact.

Perhaps that’s why the Good Book speaks of faith as being a mystery. Brianna realized that at any given moment, she might be connected to countless others in faith through prayer, perhaps even united in their requests. And that was a great comfort to her tired and lonesome heart.

I also loved the strong spiritual messages included in the story and the continuous focus on God.

“Brianna Kelly, don’ let anyone tell ya that who ya are doesn’t matter. Everything ya do, shows His glory to the world. At least, it can if ye’ll let it. You are a daughter of the King, and it’s high time ya treat yerself as such.”

The mystery around where Brianna came from was also intriguing and even though I figured it out early on, I was kept on edge with wondering how everything will come to light.

*I received a complimentary copy from the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.*


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About the book:

Brianna Kelly was abandoned at Ballymacool House and Boarding School as an infant. She has worked there since she was a wee girl and will likely die there. Despite a sense that she was made for something more, Brianna feels powerless to change her situation, so she consoles herself by exploring the Ballymacool grounds, looking for hidden treasures to add to the secret trove beneath the floorboards of her room.

When Michael Wray, the son of local gentry, is sent to Ballymacool to deal with his unruly cousin, he finds himself drawn to Brianna, immediately and inescapably. There is something about her that feels so . . . familiar. When Brianna finds a piece of silver in the woods, she commits to learning its origins, with the help of Michael. What they discover may change everything.

Fan favorite Jennifer Deibel invites you back to the Emerald Isle in the 1930s for this fresh take on the Cinderella story, complete with a tantalizing mystery, a budding romance, and a chance at redemption.

About the author:

Jennifer Deibel is a middle school teacher and freelance writer. Her work has appeared on (in)courage, on

The Better Mom, in Missions Mosaic Magazine, and others. With firsthand immersive experience abroad, Jennifer writes stories that help redefine home through the lens of culture, history, and family. After nearly a decade of living in Ireland and Austria, she now lives in Arizona.

Debut novel, A Dance in Donegal, releases February 2, 2021 from Revell. Follow Moira Doherty to the wilds of rural Ireland in 1921. Available for preorder wherever books are sold.