About the Book
When captured rebel Scotsman Alex MacKinnon is granted the king’s mercy–exile to the Colony of North Carolina–he’s indentured to Englishman Edmund Carey as a blacksmith. Against his will Alex is drawn into the struggles of Carey’s slaves–and those of his stepdaughter, Joanna Carey. A mistress with a servant’s heart, Joanna is expected to wed her father’s overseer, Phineas Reeves, but finds herself drawn instead to the new blacksmith.
As their unlikely relationship deepens, successive tragedies strike the Careys. When blame falls unfairly upon Alex he flees to the distant mountains where he encounters Reverend Pauling, itinerate preacher and friend of the Careys, now a prisoner of the Cherokees.
Haunted by his abandoning of Joanna, Alex tries to settle into life with the Cherokees, until circumstances thwart yet another attempt to forge his freedom and he’s faced with the choice that’s long hounded him: continue down his rebellious path or embrace the faith of a man like Pauling, whose freedom in Christ no man can steal. But the price of such mercy is total surrender, and perhaps Alex’s very life.
Excerpt
Alex opened his eyes. Though not yet high in the sky, the Carolina sun burned fierce. Bearing its assault, he stood in what he made for the aft deck of a flatboat. Within his view a man, shirtless back a glistening blue-black, had hauled in a dripping pole and was stowing it along the deck rail, over which Alex had been sick. The vessel surged, picking up speed though none poled it now that he could see.
Alarmed, he looked out over silty water, expecting to see the merchant ship, Charlotte-Ann, riding at anchor beyond the smaller craft lining Wilmington’s quay. He didn’t see the quay. A tree-lined bank slid past, edged in mudflats dotted with quarreling seabirds.
They were on the river.
A throat’s clearing curtailed his observations. Squinting, Alex made out the Englishman seated on a crate shaded by a cabin in the craft’s center. He wore no coat or hat, but his breeches and waistcoat were cut of good cloth and fit his trim person well. With dark hair smoothly tailed, he bore no trace of sweat on his brow, as if the neckcloth knotted below his chin didn’t smother him. He looked not yet thirty.
The man bared good teeth in a smile, an expression that took his unremarkable features—longish nose, thin lips, hazel eyes overshadowed by strong brows—and rearranged them into a mask of disarming appeal.
He’d seen the man before. Alex closed his eyes, searching his memory for that face, and found it.
His eyes flew open. “Ye’ve made a mistake! I’d an agreement with the ship’s master. Captain Bingham will tell ye . . .” But Bingham wouldn’t. The Charlotte-Ann‘s captain was complicit in this. Minding that now, too, Alex strained against his bindings. Could he pitch himself overboard, hope to reach the bank?
“I wouldn’t try it,” the Englishman advised. “Alligators infest these waters. You missed the last sighting. Quite the sizeable specimen.”
Alligators. Alex had yet to see one of the fearsome beasts since they’d begun their piloted journey into Wilmington’s sandbar-riddled harbor, but the Charlotte-Ann‘s crew had encountered them on voyages past. His sweating scalp crawled at the thought of jagged teeth closing over him, powerful jaws dragging him under the river’s dark surface. Still, he’d rather face that battle than what awaited him at this riverine journey’s end.
Review
Once again, Lori Benton has managed to transport me heart, soul, mind, and all five senses to another time and place. Her stories don’t just make me feel invested in her characters; they make me feel invested in the communities they inhabit. They make me feel a part of the historical setting they inhabit. And they always, always, make me wonder anew at the ways in which God works in and through all circumstances. I think Joanna said it best towards the end of the novel:
“Scripture tells us that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord. I thought that meant the Almighty uses even our tragedies to bring about some good thing, some unforeseen blessing, given time. Now I think there’s more to it—that the very thing that causes our pain can become the source of our joy, much as a baby causes agony in its birthing, but once born is cherished, its mother’s rejoicing beyond measure.”
Alex McKinnon was a wonderfully complex character (and a wonderfully SCOTTISH character, it must be said)—honourable, yet embittered by his circumstances. Those two opposing qualities created an internal tension that only increased as Alex began to take an interest in the lives of the people living and working at Severn, and I found myself fascinated as much by the unfolding events as by the prospect that he would eventually come to understand the heavenly King’s mercy in the midst of such trials.
Joanna, too, drew me in with her compassion and determination. I felt her frustration at the inability to realise her vision for Severn, and as I began to understand—or at least suspect—all that was really going on at Severn, I became more and more anxious for her and the whole community of secondary characters whose stories were the warp to Joanna and Alex’s weft. I couldn’t have been any more anxious were they living, breathing people!
And the antagonist… *shudder* The man made my skin crawl. And yet, there was a sense in which I pitied him as well. He has the grittiest back story of any of Lori Benton’s antagonists to date, I think, and the author did a wonderful job of conveying that sensitively, but he was definitely a piece of work.
In short, if you’re looking for fully immersive historical fiction that will grip you until the last page, look no further.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.
About the Author
Lori Benton was raised east of the Appalachian Mountains, surrounded by early American history going back three hundred years. Her novels transport readers to the eighteenth century, where she brings to life the Colonial and early Federal periods of American history. When she isn’t writing, reading, or researching, Lori enjoys exploring and photographing the Oregon wilderness with her husband. She is the author of Burning Sky, recipient of three Christy Awards, The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn, Christy-nominee The Wood’s Edge and A Flight of Arrows.
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Excellent review, KAtie! Lori Benton is one of my go-to authors!