Where to start with this book? First, I would say it was honestly more like a 3.5 stars for me. Was it good? Yes. How can I not appreciate a story so intricately woven, with instense scenes, deeply woven emotions, and well devleoped characters? Well, I can't.
As a whole, I really enjoyed the story. I think I read it in about three days, which says a lot for me when it comes to this style of fiction. I love historical novels, espeiclly the era that this was set it in. Not to mention, anything with Indians tends to grab my attention.
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The plot was unique. We follow the lives of many characters: There's the father, Reginald, whose newborn son dies in it's sleeping mothers arms. Rather than face her anguish, he switches his dead baby for another woman's newborn son (she had delivered twins). From there, Gerald is haunted by his choices, and many of those he loves will bear the consequences as the truth unfolds.
Benton does a great job of developing the rest of the characters of the family: There's Lydia who has long regarded Reginald, and helps raise his daughter when his wife refuses to do so. There's Anna, the daughter he loves & fought to save who falls in love with the most unlikely person--the twin of his son he kidnapped years before. We are also introduced to several other members of the story line, and it was interesting to see how the story plays out.
My main problem with the book lies with the character of Lydia. She is only 14 years old in the story when we realize she regards Reginald in a somewhat normal teenage-ish regard. But, as the years go on, her feelings deepen. On one hand, she keeps the feelings hidden, but continues to be a huge part of their lives. It was a bit odd to me, being that the mature decision would have been to simply stay out of their lives. Instead, we see Reginald occasionally shows favor towards her. He remains faithful to his wife, and there is nothing that passes between them until his wifes death. But, it just left a weird bone to pick for me. I think it would have been more satisfying if his wife had come around, and concluded with her being the heroine of the story.
Wherein lies the beauty of a deeply woven work of fiction: it tugged at my heartstrings, made me question relationships and motives behind characters, and learn to love the overall theme: forgiveness. With that said, I can't wait to read more of Benton's Books.
Many thanks to the wonderful program Blogging For Books for my honest opinion!
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