Klik op een omslag om naar Google Boeken te gaan.
Bezig met laden... A hope divided (origineel 2017; editie 2017)door Alyssa Cole
Informatie over het werkA Hope Divided door Alyssa Cole (2017)
Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Once again, Cole gives readers a crystal clear picture of the American Civil War and an unflinching look at the reality of slavery. This time, instead of looking at things from the perspective of a slave, Cole looks at the complex dynamic of being a black woman with mixed heritage in Marlie, a young woman with a white father and a black mother trying to navigate a world where she's not accepted and only barely tolerated. It's a poignant story full of great, complex characters. My major gripe with it is the same as the previous book in the series: it's not much of a romance. Like Elle from the previous novel in the series, Marlie is brilliant, resourceful, capable, and hardworking. However, what sets her apart is she's a little more naive as to how the world works. While she recognizes there isn't really a niche for her in her present society, she also doesn't realize how close to the precipice she is until the curtain is lifted. Her story of her growing up with a medicine woman (almost shaman-like) mother then rejecting that knowledge in favor of a more scientific approach only for her to revert back to it shows great growth. If the story was just about Marlie, this would've been a fantastic novel. However, there was also Ewan to contend with. Ewan is the little brother of the hero from the previous book. While readers know his backstory from reading about Malcolm, there still feels like there are unexplored depths with Ewan. Unfortunately, Cole doesn't really examine Ewan's past traumas or idiosyncrasies. They're just kind of there. I will also state, for the record, that hero-recovering-from-illness is one of my least favorite romance tropes. There's nothing dashing about a man hiding in an attic crawlspace and recovering from a sprained ankle for a majority of the book. The passage of time was odd in this book. It wasn't clear how long Marlie harbored Ewan, but by the climax, his ankle was both still not healed and yet miraculously not bothering him as they fled the sadistic and evil Cahill. I will admit, despite my apathy towards Ewan, this book was headed towards 4 stars for me until we got to the ending. I found it so unsatisfying, and it felt like the characters hadn't grown at all. Similar to An Extraordinary Union, A Hope Divided would've made a very strong historical fiction novel. Unfortunately, as a romance, it falls a little flat for me. And because the romance took up as much space as it did, the historical plot wasn't as strong as it could've been, in my opinion. This was a bit different from book one, but I liked it! I would say that the main difference between this one and book one is the stakes. This one included a lot more detail about the actual military and militias involved in the civil war. I found this to be really interesting. I felt like the romance still came through and I personally enjoy romances with a lot of outside stuff going on. It also seemed very well researched. The care Cole took in writing this time period really came through in this story and I really liked that. I enjoyed the romance. I liked Ewan and I thought Marlie was a really interesting character. I found her frustrating to read at time but all the choices she made that were frustrating to read were also completely understandable given her circumstances, which made for an even more interesting read. At the beginning of the relationship, I didn't quite feel the connection but as it went on I started to really root for them and I really enjoyed seeing them in the final conflict of this book. I did want to a bit more of a wrap-up between Marlie and her family. She has conflicts for them that never resolve. Even if she just told them that she didn't want to see them for a while, it would have been more satisfying to me than what we got. This is a really good series and I'm excited to read the last book. Alyssa Cole is a really good writer and I also want to get to her other series in the near future. Marlie Lynch has helped the cause of peace all through the War between the States, she has aided the wounded from both sides and helped those fleeing to find soccour. Her formerly enslaved mother surrendered her to her father, who had been her mother's owner. Before the war her name and the acceptancce by her father's family helped but now the Confederate Home Guard are in her home and their prejudice is starting to make her life uncomfortable. Her life is also complicated by an escaped prisoner in her workroom. Eventually she and Evan have to run away and use the underground railway to get away from it all. Clever and interesting story with characters that will stay with me. I loved how Marlie was sciencing her herbalism and how Evan was working through his issues and ways of living for both of them to find a good for them life. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
Onderdeel van de reeks(en)The Loyal League (2)
Fiction.
African American Fiction.
Romance.
Historical Fiction.
HTML: "Her prose is flawless. Her historical research is absorbing, and her characters are achingly human. This book is fantastic." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
Actuele discussiesGeenPopulaire omslagen
Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
Ben jij dit?Word een LibraryThing Auteur. |
Marlie Lynch is a free woman who has been taken into the Lynch household as a member of the family. She’s always understood that her father was the plantation owner, though she and her mother lived far away. The old man is deceased and his heir Stephen has married and moved away, so Marlie and her older sister Sarah maintain the estate with a handful of servants … all freed slaves who are paid for their labor. Marlie’s primary contribution is the tonics and poultices she concocts from the plant knowledge passed down from her mother. With a Rebel prison camp in the neighborhood, Marlie begins to tend to the prisoners, and passing messages along to the Loyal League – Southerners who are against slavery and trying to help the Union. It’s at the prison that she meets Ewan McCall, a Union soldier with unique skills.
This is a pretty typical romance between two people of differing status, who join together with a common cause. Of course, they will have to fight against not only their mutual attraction, but the very real restrictions of the society in which they find themselves. I’m amazed they could find time for sex (or even for the desire for sex) given the dangers in which they find themselves, but if they can manage to have mutual orgasms in such a setting more power to them!
This is the second in a series, but I think it can easily be read as a standalone. I certainly didn’t feel that I was missing anything by not having read the first book. ( )