My Name is Resolute (#379), Nancy E. Turner's latest novel, has completely restored my faith in well-written and meticulously researched historical novels! In fact, I think it's so good I gave it a rare five star rating on GoodReads.
It's the epic story of one Resolute Catherine Eugenia Talbot, kidnapped from her parents' seaside plantation in Jamaica by Saracen pirates as a young girl. It's the beginning of the eighteenth century, and over the course of the novel, she endures much as a slave as she exchanges captivity with the Saracens along with her older sister and brother for a series of other masters where she survives and learns a most valuable skill. She ultimately winds up in Lexington, Massachusetts where she is forced to take a stand for what she believes in. All the while she has one dream - to return to her home in Jamaica where she is convinced her mother awaits her.
Resolute is such a strong character that you can't help but hope that she will achieve her dream, even though the reader realizes she will never attain it. But the ride along the way filled with cruelty, pirates,emotional wounds, Indians, bears and Tories will keep you glued to the pages to find out what happens next.
Ms. Turner says that for the first time she's added a bibliography to her novel, and it's welcome here. I spotted a few old friends on the list, and some I'd like to read in the future. I don't know if I've ever read a book that so clearly explains the effect of British taxation on the American colonists, and in terms the average reader can clearly grasp. Bravo, Ms. Turner!
No comments:
Post a Comment