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| Photo Credit - Amazon |
**May Contain Spoilers**
Tension and brutal conflicts plague the colonists of the Ohio-Kentucky in 1774, when they try to settle on land that belong to the Native Americans. The Inglesby family decides
to make the journey west to search for a better life, when an accident
causes Philip to venture ahead for help leaving his pregnant wife, Clare
and their four-year old son Jacob alone. The mother and son, find cover
for the night, but
when Clare awakes she finds her eldest son missing and she is in labor.
She finds that her son is being held captive by the Shawnee Indians and
threaten his very safety. She enlists the help of Jeremiah Ring who is serving
as a messenger between the Native Americans and the settlers. Jeremiah
hesitantly agrees at first as he worries that she would be in more
danger and he has to deliver an important letter to the council and
delaying the message can cause more lives to be jeopardized. Will Clare be able to save her son? Why did the Native Americans capture her son?
The historical fiction novel had an interesting story blending aspects of true events into the story. However, I felt the writing fell flat and seemed tedious at some points. I also found the main character to be detestable and downright a shame to be called a mother. She worries about her lost son, but when she barely worried about the newborn child that she has. I also felt because she had a daughter, she didn't feel as invested in her as her son. She is also portrayed as the mother who would fight for her children, but why didn't she put her foot down before her husband drag their entire family into the wilderness? Why does she treat her newborn daughter as an obstacle and a burden between reuniting with her son? I tried really hard to get into this book, but
I kept thinking Clare is nothing but a hypocrite and can't spend 5
minutes thinking of others before she claims injustice. She claims the
Native Americans are barbaric for claiming white settler's children as
their own, but
the white settlers just murdered/attack the Native Americans sometimes
without being provoked. At least the Native Americans didn't kill the
children while the settlers murdered pregnant Native American women.
Clare should open her eyes and feel compassion for others instead of
being quick to judge.
**Disclosure - I received a free unedited advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion**
