3 Star
Abigail Milton was born into the British middle class, but her family has landed in unthinkable debt. To ease their burdens, Abby’s parents send her to America to live off the charity of their old friend, Douglas Elling. When she arrives in Charleston at the age of seventeen, Abigail discovers that the man her parents raved about is a disagreeable widower who wants little to do with her. To her relief, he relegates her care to a governess, leaving her to settle into his enormous estate with little interference. But just as she begins to grow comfortable in her new life, she overhears her benefactor planning the escape of a local slave—and suddenly, everything she thought she knew about Douglas Elling is turned on its head.
Kathryn- 3 Star
I wish I could have loved this novel more. Unfortunately despite the fact that I loved the main characters, the surroundings and the premise I didn't love the novel as a whole.
I found myself frustrated by repetition. Abigail's hesitancy about Douglas and his fear of letting her in plagued most of the story until all of a sudden they realised their romantic interest in each other. It was sudden and yet complete foreseeable. Then the whole joy of the plot is unravelled by the anti-heroine and we are thrust into a multi-continent search and rescue mission.
I felt the background scenery (homes, plantations, clothing and social aspects) were very well done and I had a fantastic vision of their world. I really did also enjoy the detail regarding the underground railway stops Douglas was involved in.
Likely my biggest hurdle with the novel overall was the slowness of the first three quarters and the speed of the last quarter wrap up. I'm disappointed I didn't come away feeling satisfied as there were so many great aspects to the writing.
Thank you to SparkPress for our review copy. All opinions are our own.
Connect with Jacqueline Friedland:
No comments:
Post a Comment