I really loved, loved, loved Ann Gabhart's The Innocent. I was a tiny bit surprised by how much I loved it since it is set during the Civil War, well, directly after the Civil War. But from the start, Gabhart had me hooked. I think one of the reasons I loved it so much--cared so much--was the characterization.
Carlyn Kearney is the heroine of The Innocent. The war has left her a widow, a widow hesitant to declare herself a widow. Her husband is missing in action, has been missing for several years now. Part of her truly wants him to come back home, and expects just that. Another part of her realizes that if he was alive, he'd have found a way to at the very least write her and let her know that he's alive. Carlyn is in a predicament because she cannot make payments on the house, and, the man who loaned her husband the money is a scoundrel not above making threats. The novel opens with him bringing the sheriff to evict her. The sheriff. Well. He's something. He's a big part of why this one works so very well.
Having nowhere else to go, Carlyn Kearney joins the nearby Shaker community. Will she be a permanent Sister of the community? Or is this a temporary fix? Will she get along with the other women? Will she meet their expectations? Will they meet hers? This decision isn't one that is taken lightly.
The Innocent is part mystery novel--I LOVED the mystery element--and part romance novel. I won't say a word about the mystery, but, it's GOOD.
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
No comments:
Post a Comment