Denise Heinze

An enjoyable read with a strong sense of time via author Denise Heinze’s language choices and colorful imagery. I especially appreciated the author’s dedication to portraying the relationship between the colonists and Native Americans as accurately as possible – not an easy feat in today’s politically-charged social atmosphere. Heinze doesn’t quite avoid, however, allowing modern-day feminist viewpoints from creeping into the story.

Our main character, Temperance, and her hired maid servant, Lily, are likable characters with a relationship that goes beyond that of employer-employee. As they venture to, and endure the New World, they form a steady friendship and reliance on each other for companionship, and indeed, survival itself. The novel begins with a middle-aged Temperance looking back over her life and determined to tell the tale of what actually occurred at Jamestown in that first year that has been dubbed “The Starving Time”. Conditions were both primitive and harsh – over three-quarters of the settlers in Jamestown did not survive the first year. The tale gives us a brief glimpse of what America’s early pioneers endured to carve out a new life for themselves in the New World.

If you haven’t guessed already, Temperance Flowerdew is an ambitious piece of historical fiction. Historical fiction comes in many varieties: Some novels are simply set in historical time periods – the kinds of novels that, right or wrong, aren’t going for accuracy, but for mood. Others strive for absolute spot-on historical fact – as much as humanely possible – and then fill in the blanks in the record in order to make a cohesive storyline. I would say that The Brief and True Report of Temperance Flowerdew falls somewhere in between the two, leaning toward the latter.

I am one who enjoys more of the historical than the fiction part of historical fiction. Accordingly, I checked out the sources listed in the novel’s Acknowledgments end notes before I read the tale, and was pleased that they appeared to be legitimate and reliable works. However, as I read the novel, I was struck that there were several major story components that seemed pretty loose with the facts. The first of which is that Temperance travels by herself, with only a hired maid, on the ship from Europe to America. While I’m not a historical expert on the time period, I do find it highly unlikely that a woman, even accompanied by a paid servant, would make that kind of trip alone. Also, the storyline holds that Temperance’s sweetheart, George, was on another ship in the grouping that sailed for America, rather than Temperance traveling with her first husband, Richard Barrow, as the actual historical record outlines. Perhaps this is the case of author’s license whereby Heinze combined two of the characters for simpler storytelling. The George referred to the story is George Yeardley, Temperance’s second husband, whom she married in 1618, nine years after Temperance arrived in Jamestown. The other major questionable plot point I won’t mention so as not to ruin the story for you, yet which may be the crux of the research that Heinze put into Temperance Flowerdew. Be assured, however, that Temperance was a real, living person who left her mark in some of America’s earliest, historical records.

While I can’t say that Temperance Flowerdew was a novel I loved, it was fairly good and I did enjoy myself while reading it. Recommended for fans of historical fiction who don’t mind a bit of revisionist history.

A big thank you to Denise Heinze, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for providing a free Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for this honest review.

The Brief and True Report of Temperance Flowerdew published September 29, 2020 and is available from Blackstone Publishing in Hardback, Kindle, and Audible Audio. Please consider purchasing from BookShop.org – the online bookstore that gives away 75% of the book’s profit margin to support indie bookstores. (Note: Desiree does receive a small commission should you purchase through this link, however, she shares this out of her enduring love for corner bookstores everywhere, rather than for any profit.)

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This novel really gives you a lot of historical information in the short novel it is. It was a very good read about the struggles and hardship of the people who ventured to the new world to conquer and start a new in Jamestown. A new settlement that was to bring hope, and promise and a new life for anyone daring enough to cross the vast ocean and commit to making a new life somewhere no one has been before.
Told through the diary of Temperance Flowerdew, she relays the real troubles, fights, hunger and unfathomable events and situations that these settlers faced. Every day was a struggle to stay alive, and no one could be trusted. True colors of people came through, and if it not for the Indian's and the women, there is a good chance America would not be what it is today.
Life was unlike anything they had every lived before. Women were sent over to the new settlement to become wives and help then procreate for the future generation. These women had no idea what they were sailing into. The men were greedy, and albeit they thought they were going to make it, they needed the women's help.
I really enjoyed reading about the start and establishment of Jamestown and it was barley hanging on. I am amazed that those people did survive and eventually help and food came to help, but it was a very strenuous life and every single day was another struggle and hardship. It was also interesting to read a bit about John Smith and Pocahontas. I really enjoyed this novel and would like to read more historical fiction about Jamestown and those settlers.
Thank you to the author and Black Stone Publishing, for the free book. Also thank you to Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for the invite! I really enjoyed being in Temperance's footsteps and understanding the settlement in the new world.… (meer)

3.5
"Still, I wonder what goes missing when the women
are nowhere to be found as actors in history.
It is but half the story."

Written by Temperance, a gentlewomen, to mark the sacrifice of her maid, Lily and the horrible events of the winter of 1910. Jamestown offered a chance of freedom, a releasng of strictures expected of women at this time in England. A new life, new chance for some. Lily, the young women she hired before Temperance travels to England, has visions, visions that will save them time and time again. Temperance, is bookish, but has few ideas on how to do day to day chores. These two will firm a quick bond, a bond respected by both.

Of the two hundred colonists that arrived, only sixty will survive the first year. Cold, starvation, illness and indian attacks will continually lessen their numbers. We briefly meet John Smith and the native woman who will become Pocahontas. Eventually, they will be forced to do and take any measures to survive. Temperance herself would marry in turn Virginia's first two governors.

This is my favorite historical time period, yet few new fictional books cover this period. Plus, I couldn't resist the name Temperance Honeydew. This is well written, conveys in a compelling manner the inner thoughts if a woman faced with challenges she never thought to encounter. A novel of courage, bravery and sacrifice. A look inside the early lives of those who settled in our first colonies and what they had to do to survive.

A link to the pages of Temperance Honeydew. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempe

ARC from Edelweiss.… (meer)

This is a haunting, gritty, raw telling of what really happened to early settlers in Jamestown. Which was the first permanent English settlement in America. This story is told thru the eyes of a smart, bookish woman who traveled to a new land seeking adventure and freedom of speech. She and the other participants get more than they bargained for, disease, food shortage, and surprising gifts of food from Chief Powhatan which helped the English survive. Without the Indians help they would have all died. By late 1609 relationships between the Powhatan Indians and English had soured. As the English demanded too much food during a drought. At that point, the English were desperate and open to eating anything, various animals, leather from shoes etc. The author delves into some of this through her main characters Temperance Flowerdew, who was the wife of Virginia’s first two governors. The author also shows the real relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith not like the one Disney portrayed.

Temperance sets out to write about the good, the bad and the ugly. She shares from an aching heart. She hopes to give a well-rounded picture of what really happened in Jamestown. Temperance shows the hardships, heartache, as she introduces her extraordinary servant girl named Lily. Her mission was to keep Temperance Flowerdew alive.

Lily gladly gave sacrificially to her Lady. She helped Temperance navigate wildlife, even though Temperance would rather starve than catch something to eat. Here is what she says, “…”Rather than become proficient in the particulars of self-sufficiency, for which she had no aptitude, she opted to in verge her way into Jamestown governance. She had no experience, except second hand, through her exhaustive ready on such matters. She was as eager to enact her municipal plans as Lily was her domestic ones. Lily, she surmised could procure a king’s ransom for the two of them, but it would make little difference if Jamestown collapsed in mayhem.”

Lily thrives in gathering food and helping others get well and stay well. Lily finds her first love and stays loyal to Temperance. These two strong, resourceful women choose to live out their dreams. No matter how hard the task. They are hopeful in their search for freedom.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!
The Book Club Network blog www.bookfun.org… (meer)