Travel to America with the first residents!
What a pleasure to be able to read the first in this new series. My husband and I have been tracing our ancestry back as far as we can. In each instance, we would love to have a journal or something that belonged to our people so that we can understand their journey and know more about how they lived. Stories like this are so helpful to us. The author did a LOT of research before writing this story. I still find it fascinating how an author takes facts, creates new characters to illustrate, and fills in an individual’s day to day thoughts and actions to tell the tales. Kimberly is another great author who brings history and the people to life.
The two main characters of the book had their trip on the Mayflower decided for them. They both grew in strength and learned how to live in faith. And found each other to share their troubles, individual thoughts and fears.
I bookmarked two of the passages, the first a quote from scripture, that go to the heart of this story:
“. . . Count it exceeding joy when ye fall into diverse temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith bringeth forth patience. And let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. “
And
“…but it wasn’t until I found salvation through Jesus Christ and my new faith that I was able to let go of the past.”
All of the passengers on the Mayflower (and that of other immigrants after) went through exceedingly hard times. It’s a wonder that any from this voyage made it at all, or that others still kept coming afterward. Timing is everything, and theirs was not good yet it's God who directs all of our lives, and uses many of us in one way or another to help and shape the lives of others.
Mary Elizabeth is carried along on the journey by her father and her best friend. They are very enthusiastic about the opportunity, but she would rather stay where they are in Holland. Yet the Separatist community they lived in felt that this was getting to be as bad as what they had left in England, so it was decided to emigrate.
William was orphaned as a baby and given to relatives to raise, who used him as a slave then kicked him out at 9 years of age. He lived on his own, working as he could to live, until a man found him, took him in and taught him the trade of being a carpenter. His mentor purchased a share on the Mayflower and a place in developing the new colony in America – so his path was set for him. A good and honest person, he had developed an excellent reputation – but because he was an orphan he would never have a social standing if he stayed in England. However, that early life had shaped him too, and fed his fears. He knew something was missing in his life, and found it when he sailed to America with the Separatists.
This is an excellent read that makes you wish you could learn even more about this time and the people who lived through it. I highly recommend it!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the Bethany House Publishers - Netgalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “
Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Description from the Publisher
Can a religious separatist and an opportunistic spy make
it in the New World?
A brand new series for fans of all things related to history, romance,
adventure, faith, and family trees.
Mary Elizabeth Chapman boards the Speedwell in 1620 as a Separatist
seeking a better life in the New World. William Lytton embarks on the Mayflower
as a carpenter looking for opportunities to succeed—and he may have found
one when a man from the Virginia Company offers William a hefty sum to keep a
stealth eye on company interests in the new colony. The season is far too late
for good sailing and storms rage, but reaching land is no better as food is
scarce and the people are weak. Will Mary Elizabeth survive to face the spring
planting and unknown natives? Will William be branded a traitor and expelled?
Join the adventure as the Daughters of the Mayflower series begins with The Mayflower
Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse.
More to come in the Daughters of the Mayflower series:
The Mayflower Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse – set 1620 Atlantic Ocean
(February 2018)
The Pirate Bride by Kathleen Y’Barbo – set 1725 New Orleans (April 2018)
The Captured Bride by Michelle Griep – set 1760 during the French and
Indian War (June 2018)
The Patriot Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse – set 1774 Philadelphia (August
2018)?
The Cumberland Bride by Shannon McNear – set 1794 on the Wilderness Road
(October 2018)
The Liberty Bride by MaryLu Tyndall – set 1814 Baltimore (December 2018)
