Book Summary (Amazon): The daughter of a Mohawk mother and French father in 1759 Montreal, Catherine Duval finds it is easier to remain neutral in a world that is tearing itself apart. Content to trade with both the French and the British, Catherine is pulled into the fray against her wishes when her British ex-fiance, Samuel Crane, is taken prisoner by her father. Samuel asks her to help him escape, claiming he has information that could help end the war.
Peace appeals to Catherine, but helping the man who broke her heart does not. She delays . . . until attempts on Samuel's life convince her he's in mortal danger. Against her better judgment she helps him flee by river, using knowledge of the landscape to creep ever closer to freedom. Their time together rekindles feelings she thought long buried, and danger seems to hound their every mile. She's risked becoming a traitor by choosing a side, but will the decision cost her even more than she anticipated?
My thoughts... This novel is rich in historical detail from page one. I knew almost nothing about the physical or political landscape of 1700s Canada. The way that Jocelyn Green described it, I could picture many things down to specific detail. This is definitely a strength of this novel. Even the fictional characters could fit right into the pages of history.
As far as the plot of the story, it is also quite intense as the characters face very difficult choices and situations, quite like real life. I would definitely characterize this novel as realistic historical fiction. In real life, things don't always come together and work out like you might wish they would. Each character had to work through some emotional trauma and wounds that in some cases led to taking a difficult path, risking their hearts and lives. There is also an aspect of this novel that involves physical and emotional abuse, which I found somewhat disturbing at times, particularly in the way that Catherine's father treated her. His manipulation and abuse led her to stay with him and make excuses for his behavior. This also carried over to the romantic relationship she had with Samuel. He also manipulated Catherine to accomplish the mission he was passionate about. Even though Samuel had good intentions overall, he was not completely honest with Catherine.
I certainly credit the author with a well-written novel. The spiritual journey the characters take is engaging without having the "preachy" feel that many readers dislike. I appreciated the historical detail, however {**slight spoiler alert** } I was frustrated with the way that Samuel treated Catherine. This novel is not one that I would consider romantic. I went into it thinking that there would be romantic tension between the two main characters. When they had a few moments together that gave me those butterflies, I later felt a bit cheated when things were not as they seemed. One may consider this a love story as the characters, especially Catherine, learn to love who they are and who God created them to be, but the romantic love story isn't there. To be honest, that was kind of a bummer.
**I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in order to give an honest review, which I did.**
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