First sentence: The churning of the steamboat was relentless as it chugged down the Hudson River.
Premise/plot: Our heroine, Lucinda, is mourning the loss of her father and struggling to find her place in the world. First step, of course, finding a place to stay--at least temporarily. This leads her to her mother's family. Will she be accepted by her uncle and aunt and cousins? And even if she is accepted, will she feel accepted? After all there is a difference between the two. Lucinda's past is anything but squeaky clean. Our hero, Seth, is mourning the loss of a parent as well. He's not struggling to find a place to belong: he has one: he's a West Point Cadet with a bright future ahead of him. But he is struggling no doubt. Because while he may have a place to live and know what's ahead of him, he has a sister that doesn't. He was not allowed to leave West Point to go to his sister, to help sell the family farm, to see her safely to relatives in another state; he wasn't even allowed to send her money. Turns out that his sister was swindled out of all the money she got from selling the farm. And she is is stuck at Fort Laramie, forced to get what jobs she can to survive. He's angry and frustrated at the unfairness of life. The book alternates between these two narrators.
My thoughts: I really liked this one. I did. I had happened to see a musical set at West Point earlier this year. And one of the songs was about "kissing rock" with a legend behind it. This legend is mentioned oh-so-briefly in this one. And so it was a fun coincidence for me. I enjoyed Mitchell's story, I tend to always enjoy her books
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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