Paid Vacation Days: Finland vs. the US

Oh my gosh, America is so bad at this! I'm now appalled that the US government doesn't have mandatory paid vacation days. 

In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, here's the gist.

Both Finland and Sweden employed persons are allotted between 5 and 6 WEEKS of paid vacation time every year. This vacation time is mandatory, and to that I say, yes please, absolutely require me to take time off to spend with my family, to travel, to rest, and STILL GET PAID FOR IT. 

Whatever it is the US is doing, they're doing it wrong. There's a federal law somewhere that needs to be either created or changed to require employers to provide their staff with at least 5 weeks per year of paid vacation time. 

Just think of the mental health benefits?! If you want to take a month long trip to Europe with your family, you can do it because you're still being paid and you have job security. 

I'm sure there's a reason why the Finnish government has such labor laws in place, and there is undoubtedly a cost to the citizens of some sort, but again, I don't care. There can be a cost if it means that I'm allowed time to rest and just enjoy my house, my garden, my books, and a trip around the world all as part of a mandatory paid vacation.

The reason I'm starting to feel this lack keenly was the 5 months I spent last year out of work on severance pay. It was glorious. I enjoy working and I enjoy my new job, but I am frustrated because I am currently just a "temporary" employee which means even though I'm full-time, I have no paid time off benefits. No PTO, zip. So if I want to take time off, I will not be paid for it. I don't even get paid for official holidays so if we're closed on the 4th, sorry, I'm out of luck financially. That is the height of frustration and in Finland, that wouldn't happen.

If you work 35 hours or 14 days a month in Finland, you are eligible for your mandatory paid vacation leave of 25 days. It's the law. End of story. None of this temporary full-time worker with no benefits nonsense.

There is a growing mental health crisis and work burnout rate in the US. It's no wonder. Maybe instead of panicking over unbuilt border walls and who won what debate and whether a person's identity matches their birth sex, our politicians should consider ways to work together to get its citizens 5 or 6 weeks of mandatory paid leave. Take a page out of Sweden and Finland's books and I guarantee you that American citizens would be far better for it.

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Book Review: The Lily of Ludgate Hill by Mimi Matthews (2024)

 

Official Synopsis

Lady Anne Deveril doesn’t spook easily. A woman of lofty social standing known for her glacial beauty and starchy opinions, she’s the unofficial leader of her small group of equestriennes. Since her mother’s devastating plunge into mourning six years ago, Anne voluntarily renounced any fanciful notions of love and marriage. And yet, when fate puts Anne back into the entirely too enticing path of Mr. Felix Hartford, she’s tempted to run…right into his arms.

No one understands why Lady Anne withdrew into the shadows of society, Hart least of all. The youthful torch he once held for her has long since cooled. Or so he keeps telling himself. But now Anne needs a favor to help a friend. Hart will play along with her little ruse—on the condition that Anne attend a holiday house party at his grandfather’s country estate. No more mourning clothes. No more barriers. Only the two of them, unrequited feelings at last laid bare.

Finally free to gallop out on her own, Anne makes the tantalizing discovery that beneath the roguish exterior of her not-so-white knight is a man with hidden depths, scorching passions—and a tender heart.

My Thoughts

Mimi Matthews certainly knows how to tell a good story with engaging characters. While The Lily of Ludgate Hill is not my favorite of the Belles of London series, I thoroughly enjoyed Lady Anne and her loyalty to her grieving mother. She's a spunky heroine, but one who also knows her own mind regardless of how she might appear to people on the outside. Yes, she's been dressing in mourning back for years in respect to her father's memory. No, she hasn't settled down to a suitable match. Yes, she gives every appearance of being cowed by her mother. But not everything is as it appears as Felix Hartford discovers soon enough.

I'm not always on board with stories where the male lead is prone to arrogance, but for Felix, like Anne, he also is not all that he seems. The reader comes to know this about him soon enough, but it takes a bit of time for Anne to learn that she can't judge him by his outward behavior, but rather by the things he does in secret. Think of Sir Percy from The Scarlet Pimpernel where he behaves one way in public and another in private and you might have a slight idea. Of course, he's no Percy, but in his own way, Felix is quite heroic.

Their relationship is quite rocky, fraught with miscommunication and assumptions, and that might be one reason why I didn't necessarily love this book. But they do get things straightened out in the end and I believe they will be a truly charming couple. Both of them just needed to do a bit of growing up before their relationship could even begin to work.

Another reason for my liking and not loving The Lily of Ludgate Hill is that it starts up about 3/4 of the way into the previous book The Belle of Belgrave Square, which I absolutely ADORED! So that just felt strange, retelling from a different perspective the end of a previous book. Once we moved into a newer timeline with different events, I enjoyed the story more, but that beginning was a little slow-paced for my liking simply because I didn't really care at that point.

I also didn't care for all the new age mysticism and seances and spirit guides that Anne's mother believes in. Spirit guides tend to be something people play with and don't realize what they actually are. In this case, Dimitri is presented as being a figment of Anne's mother's imagination, but he could just as easily have been something else. Don't open that door.

I am hopeful for the 4th and final installation, The Muse of Maiden Lane since it follows the story of Stella, the fourth young lady in this group of friends, whose hair is completely gray and who may be falling in love with a gentleman in a wheelchair. I would love that story arc if that's what happens!

Kudos to Mimi Matthews for continuing with her clean fiction trend. You've got some passionate kisses here, but nothing else, and that's how I do tend to like it, fiery but careful with how much is shown. The Lily of Ludgate Hill is a quick and easy read and a charming way to pass some spare time. If you love clean romance and Victorian fiction then this one is probably for you!

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