Historical fiction is a much-loved genre for me. One of my absolute favorites. It is particularly enjoyable to me when an author does their due diligence and fills a fictional story with genuine detail. Such a well-written book feels like it transports me to another time entirely, and that is my favorite part. Woodhouse excels on all points of historical accuracy, as far as I can tell. I was utterly entranced with the idea of taking a true tale with all real circumstances and people, and adding just a handful of fictional characters to make the story come to life in a more personal way. I was very excited for this book!
I was a little disappointed in the actual reading, I'm sad to say, and there were two main reasons for this.
First, the story jumped around, leaving gaping holes in the reading. I did expect some jumping, strictly due to the fact that when working off of legitimate historical documents, there will, in fact, be holes in the data. Documents being lost, some things never being written down at all, etc. I was prepared for and okay with a certain amount of holes in the story. Frankly, though, I expected many of them to be closed or at least lessened by the love story of the fictional characters that were added. I did not find that to be the case here.
Certain things were troubling, such as the way Peter popped up only about once every 50 pages or so, then only for one or two paragraphs, and then ultimately being concluded by having a complete character transformation that is never explained. Why would he suddenly act so differently from the way he had in each small instance that he was described in the story? I would have loved to read the moment of epiphany for him.
The second issue I had during reading was the lack of literary description. I missed that so much. It's one of my favorite parts of reading. I love when writing is so clear and vivid that it feels as though the story's picture has been plucked out of the author's head and dropped straight into mine! I feel like there were a great many missed opportunities here, though.
In the trip across the ocean, what were the smells that Mary Elizabeth experienced? The gun hold where all the passengers were sick, and the stark difference when they were able to open hatches and let in fresh air. What did the wet boards of the ship itself smell like? What was it like to walk on those boards? Did she ever get a splinter? What about when she tripped and tumbled across the deck to check on Mr. Lytton? What did the salt air feel like to her, on her first trip on the open ocean? How did the sight of the cramped sleeping quarters compare to the endless ocean with no land in sight? I wish these things had been included, because I feel they would have brought the story that much more to life without jeopardizing the historical accuracy in any way.
Because these things are so important to me and because they were missing, I can only give this book three stars. I will say, though, that I absolutely adore the fictional characters, and I feel that Woodhouse did a remarkable job of writing the Separatists accurately, compellingly, and with compassion.
I was a little disappointed in the actual reading, I'm sad to say, and there were two main reasons for this.
First, the story jumped around, leaving gaping holes in the reading. I did expect some jumping, strictly due to the fact that when working off of legitimate historical documents, there will, in fact, be holes in the data. Documents being lost, some things never being written down at all, etc. I was prepared for and okay with a certain amount of holes in the story. Frankly, though, I expected many of them to be closed or at least lessened by the love story of the fictional characters that were added. I did not find that to be the case here.
Certain things were troubling, such as the way Peter popped up only about once every 50 pages or so, then only for one or two paragraphs, and then ultimately being concluded by having a complete character transformation that is never explained. Why would he suddenly act so differently from the way he had in each small instance that he was described in the story? I would have loved to read the moment of epiphany for him.
The second issue I had during reading was the lack of literary description. I missed that so much. It's one of my favorite parts of reading. I love when writing is so clear and vivid that it feels as though the story's picture has been plucked out of the author's head and dropped straight into mine! I feel like there were a great many missed opportunities here, though.
In the trip across the ocean, what were the smells that Mary Elizabeth experienced? The gun hold where all the passengers were sick, and the stark difference when they were able to open hatches and let in fresh air. What did the wet boards of the ship itself smell like? What was it like to walk on those boards? Did she ever get a splinter? What about when she tripped and tumbled across the deck to check on Mr. Lytton? What did the salt air feel like to her, on her first trip on the open ocean? How did the sight of the cramped sleeping quarters compare to the endless ocean with no land in sight? I wish these things had been included, because I feel they would have brought the story that much more to life without jeopardizing the historical accuracy in any way.
Because these things are so important to me and because they were missing, I can only give this book three stars. I will say, though, that I absolutely adore the fictional characters, and I feel that Woodhouse did a remarkable job of writing the Separatists accurately, compellingly, and with compassion.