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This is so clearly written in the 80s that I am not surprised it is very outdated. There are so many problematic scenes that I don't know where to start.

- The very stereotypical jewish characters were laughably bad. The author actually describes Susie as "plump but at least she doesn't have the classic jew nose and hair". These are secondary characters but still very close to the main character.
Susie doesn't accept Tom's proposal just because she is insecure about her looks and what does Tom say when she tells him that he is so beautiful but she is plump and probably going to be "fat in 10 years" and she also needs glasses most of the time??? He says "I never said you were beautiful. I never thought it. I said that you were you.
HOW DOES SHE ACTUALLY MARRY THIS GUY I HAVE NO IDEA.

- The evil fiance being into eugenics. This plot point was so messed up it was actually funny to me.

- The main character, Anna was absolutely perfect. When I say perfect I mean she is absolutely a robot. She has zero flaws and the only emotion she feels is happiness. She is happy even when she has to go to England because of war and has to work as a maid in a completely foreign country where she knows none of the customs. She never struggles because she is just so lovable by everyone and she is a hardworker. The only questionable thing she does is falling in love with the Earl who is supposed to marry the eugenics girl. But falling in love with someone else's fiance is never questioned in this book so no worries.

- The hero Rupert is a creep and I don't understand how we are supposed to like him. The first time they meet is when he stumbles upon her when she is having a bath in a river. He knows that she is a maid and does not go away but actually watches her............. There is a scene where he implies that he wants her to stay in his bedroom at night. He has a fiance and he is her employer at this point. At least she had enough sense to run away from him at that scene.
How was I supposed to like this guy and root for them when the only "romantic" scenes were where Rupert was being a creep?

- Rupert's 80 year old uncle was molesting the maids throughout his whole life and Rupert's fiance is the only one who thinks this is disgusting but we are supposed to feel bad for the uncle........ Was there really a time when being a molester was fine if he didn't go "too far"??????? What am I actually reading???

There were more weird things happening but these were the main problems I had with the book.

It was very readable and I felt like the secondary characters were fleshed out well so I'm giving this a weak 2 stars instead of 1.