So here is the deal. I read an excerpt from this novel that was quite lengthy. I really enjoyed the beginning that I read. Then I get the full book as an ARC. I had such a hard time, almost slogging through the middle. Well as I get into the last third of the book, I was flipping pages so fast they were blurring because I could not put it down. This was hard to rate for me, and I went with 3.5 stars.
I usually enjoy historical fiction, perhaps not as far back as this one goes but I was very intrigued with the time in history in which this story takes place. And then the fantasy hit me. So I guess you could call this historical fantasy fiction. The story takes place in three different timelines with four very distinct women across 200 years.
Gaelle is our modern day, struggling, refugee, that is working in a senior center. She forms a relationship with a very old Jane Doe.
In the 1850's we have Margot, who is a house slave on the run with her sister. She loses her sister along the way, and struggles to come to terms with her new position in life.
Abagail is a married slave in late 1700's Haiti and she is sold away from her family to a house in New Orleans. It is there she meets Simone and Josiah who are spiritual beings and help her understand who she really is.
Mother Abagail creates a place called Remembrance and takes in all sorts of lost souls and slaves on the run. One of these souls is Winter, who also has her own special gifts and Abagail raises her as her own. This place is separate and hidden and provides a sense of community and belonging for those that reside there. It is a safe place that cannot be found, until the barriers begin to crumble and the safe world begins to crumble too.
The four women’s lives connect in many ways and challenge our concepts of time and space. The writing is wonderful and creates imagery so vivid and detailed you feel as though you are there. The empathy I felt especially toward the end of the novel is so deep. I felt connected to their world. All the marks of excellent writing.
My frustrations lie with waiting for all these pieces to fall together took longer than I imagined. I was getting frustrated with not understanding how these stories would connect, which is why I felt as though the middle was dragging on and just not getting there for me. I still enjoyed the story on a whole and thought the characters were written well, it was a timing issue for me.
Thank you to Bookish First, the publishers, and author for allowing me to read and review. This book will be published on January 21, 2020 by Forge Books.
I usually enjoy historical fiction, perhaps not as far back as this one goes but I was very intrigued with the time in history in which this story takes place. And then the fantasy hit me. So I guess you could call this historical fantasy fiction. The story takes place in three different timelines with four very distinct women across 200 years.
Gaelle is our modern day, struggling, refugee, that is working in a senior center. She forms a relationship with a very old Jane Doe.
In the 1850's we have Margot, who is a house slave on the run with her sister. She loses her sister along the way, and struggles to come to terms with her new position in life.
Abagail is a married slave in late 1700's Haiti and she is sold away from her family to a house in New Orleans. It is there she meets Simone and Josiah who are spiritual beings and help her understand who she really is.
Mother Abagail creates a place called Remembrance and takes in all sorts of lost souls and slaves on the run. One of these souls is Winter, who also has her own special gifts and Abagail raises her as her own. This place is separate and hidden and provides a sense of community and belonging for those that reside there. It is a safe place that cannot be found, until the barriers begin to crumble and the safe world begins to crumble too.
The four women’s lives connect in many ways and challenge our concepts of time and space. The writing is wonderful and creates imagery so vivid and detailed you feel as though you are there. The empathy I felt especially toward the end of the novel is so deep. I felt connected to their world. All the marks of excellent writing.
My frustrations lie with waiting for all these pieces to fall together took longer than I imagined. I was getting frustrated with not understanding how these stories would connect, which is why I felt as though the middle was dragging on and just not getting there for me. I still enjoyed the story on a whole and thought the characters were written well, it was a timing issue for me.
Thank you to Bookish First, the publishers, and author for allowing me to read and review. This book will be published on January 21, 2020 by Forge Books.