Selah Hopewell seems to be the only woman in the Virginia colony who has no wish to wed. True, there are too many men and far too few women in James Towne. But Selah already has her hands full assisting her father in the family’s shop. And now she is in charge of an incoming ship of tobacco brides who must be looked after as they sort through their many suitors.
Xander Renick is perhaps the most eligible tobacco lord in the settlement. His lands are vast, his crops are prized, and his position as a mediator between the colonists and the powerful Powhatan nation surrounding them makes him indispensable. But Xander is already wedded to his business and still grieves the loss of his wife.
Can two fiercely independent people find happiness and fulfillment on their own? Or will they discover that what they’ve been missing in life has been right in front of them all along? [back cover copy]
TIDEWATER BRIDE by Laura Frantz is a pearl of a story, touching on themes of love, sacrifice, cross-cultural understanding and respect, and reconciliation.
This tale brims with intrigue, plot twists, surprises, and is not so much read as lived.
The sense of place so strong, you’ll step into the Virginia Colony and walk streets filled with the noise of anvils and gossip, or saunter crushed-shell paths in your garden, meander aisles in a shop. You’ll be gently rocking along on horseback or gliding down the river in a canoe. You will join Selah Hopewell and a throng of others on the wharf, awaiting the arrival of the tobacco brides amid the stench of fish and tar and tobacco.
And so begins your immersion in the Virginia Colony. Here we also meet the people of Jamestown and appreciate neighbors with a generous heart and noble spirit. Learn that a little kindness goes a long way.
Chief Powhatan Statue, Williamsburg
And we experience the intersection of cultures as colonists, Indians, Africans, and English tentatively meet and slowly grow to understand each other and develop ways of interacting ~ for some the slow growth of insight and respect, for others not. From the amalgam of these people in this place, the story effortlessly rises like smoke from a fire.
Frantz’s consummate skill draws a clear picture of the different perspectives of these peoples. In fact, in 3 short paragraphs she shares 3 stories—on one page—that convey the absolute and deep differences between the Powhatan tribe’s world and the colonists’ culture. I can’t wait for you to read this!
Her powerful insight and creativity are displayed as she shows a fear-filled woman “pale as frost,” a storm approaching with clouds like “pewter cannonballs,” and a man impacted by the rigid class system that plants him in “the lonesome middle.” As the Jamestown residents grow and harvest, buy and sell, marry, have children, and bury loved ones, we experience grief slicing a heart; the clawing terror of hoof beats pounding in the night; the lonely, hollow cavern of loss.
And as always, Frantz has a perfect way of drawing children with their unique viewpoints, sparkling with spontaneity, delight, and generosity, and sharing the joy and distraction of a new puppy.
I ran into a few new words, as you would if immersed in an unfamiliar place or experience. Some new things were introduced and I realized the Colonial Era has some major differences compared to the Early American–tobacco brides, peace children, that church attendance was required, and children were active in civic and commercial activities. The deep involvement of colony officials in the settlers’ lives was also new to me. And all of this contributes to that sense of walking along with the characters, not merely reading about them.
TIDEWATER BRIDE is masterful storytelling. A captivating page-turner. I loved it and highly recommend it.
If Laura Frantz is a new author to you, you can learn more on her website or visiting on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook.
[Thanks to Revell Publishing for a review copy of this book in return for a review with my honest opinion.]
Photo credits:
ship: “Victory” from deviantart.com
Chief Powhatan Statue: http://livinginwilliamsburgvirginia.blogspot.com/
joyful child: from Laura’s Pinterest Board. Visit it here
The moment we meet Brook Eden, her playfulness and audacity invite us to join her. And from page one when she cajoles best friend Justin to teach her to drive the Rolls Royce he’s parked in front of her, we dash off with them on adventures from Monaco to England.
From inciting incident, to growing trouble, to resolution, White fills the story with surprises, twists and turns like a mountain road. I particularly admire a scene when the family has been praying for a missing member, White gives the reader a glimpse of the amazing, unique way that prayer is answered, while no one in the story ~ even those who are the answer ~ has a clue. Masterful plotting and writing, there and throughout. I highly recommend this riveting tale to fans of historical romance and suspense.
Ansel is a place where God’s presence and provision hovers over the residents like the fog hovers over the coast, and gossip is shunned but residents are not. Each one’s well-being is valued by the townsfolk who see beyond behavior and into a person’s heart, needs, and broken spots—which are handled respectfully and tenderly. Ansel residents help each other find ways to stitch together the rent pieces. In short, it’s a place anyone would like to live in.
“If everything around you is broken, it’s time to unbreak something.” [p 75]
[conversation Robert observes about a man missing after World War II]“Your husband,” Eva says gently. “He hasn’t returned … yet?” Her wording is hopeful but gentle and Robert wants to kiss her for it. He would have blundered that question a thousand ways. [p240]
Kate Breslin’s new novel, Far Side of the Sea, is a jam-packed tale set in WW I. It’s a great adventure of spies and espionage that introduces new places and unexplored aspects of a war that was fought in locations besides muddy trenches of France and Belgium. It’s the intriguing puzzle that all good spy movies must be with interesting characters, most of whom we’re only certain if they’re trustworthy at the final, gripping end. The exception, of course, is Lieutenant Colin Mabry who’s been injured already in this war but perseveres in spite of that, proving himself a worthy and admirable hero.
I enjoyed reading this, as I have all Breslin’s books. But I had an issue with pacing. At times the story seemed to amble forward rather than charge ahead with the intensity of the life-and-death issues at play. This was only an occasional issue and occurred less often in later chapters.
Hedlund’s rich, detailed descriptions bring the scenes alive. We are immersed in the story world, whether we are pitching about onboard a ship in a dark storm, a raucous bar, a quiet midwinter eve in the forest, a steamy African jungle, or the glowing warmth of the Catlett parlor.
Breslin drops the reader into WW II at Thereseinstadt, the Nazi transit camp in Czechoslovakia, where the cold, starvation, brutality, and hopelessness are portrayed in piercing clarity. (The gift of telling a story that pops off the page and into your living room sometimes doesn’t feel like a gift when what appears is a world such as Thereseinstadt.)
Laura Frantz’s THE LACEMAKER is set in 1775, pot-boiling days leading up to The Revolutionary War, when allegiances were strained and loyalties shifting. And Williamsburg, Virginia seems at the center of it all.
This is one of Frantz’s most overt romances and it works very well. The object of Elisabeth’s affections, the master of Ty Mawr estate and Independence Man Noble Rynallt, is a hero beyond expectation! The barriers to any relationship for these two are huge. When they seem insurmountable, I expected to leave the story with only bittersweet memories and the echo of Anwylyd. But noble sacrifices, exactly what one expects from a larger-than-life hero, emerge out of nowhere and bring sighs and hope and, as Frantz always promises ~ hints of HEA (happily-ever-after).
Oh, Elisabeth, I want to hug you and walk you to a place of respite. Dear reader, don’t you?
In The Ringmaster’s Wife, Kristy Cambron takes us deep into the rapidly-changing 1920s with young ladies Mable and Lady Rosamund as they carve out lives of their own choosing, following their own dreams.
Whether the reserved air of an English nobleman’s estate or the flamboyant life of the circus, Cambron creates a story world that sizzles with life. She has an uncanny ability to choose a golden-nugget detail that conveys the essence of a character, a place, a time. Each line brims with insight into both observer and observed. For example:
Have we any doubt how Rosamund and her mother relate?
Whew. What a journey. I just returned from an arduous trek, blazing a trail thru untamed mountain wilderness of Kentucky. The doctors and lawmen back in Virginia could not help us with catastrophes there. But we enjoyed gifts along the way ~ like when lush moonlight “silvered the woods and river.” And the “hallowed, heavenly magic … a star shower.” The moonbow rose from the mist of the falls, spanning the river, bands of white streaked with red and indigo and pale green, “vivid against the froth of the falls.”
I ache with the walking and carrying supplies. My mind and senses cannot rest after months of being alert to any subtle change. Getting lazy in observing allows death to strike. I wonder if I will ever settle, not react to every slight sound. Every variance of breeze or temperature or color of the sky …
