Hero is a slaveholder & other spoilers

If I had known that so much of the story was set in the American southern colonies I would never haver purchased this book. I am too familiar with the actual history to be able to ignore the whitewashing of our past. The implication that the cruelties suffered by our aristocratic English heroine were somehow worse because she was “white “ and born free made me feel sick. I realize that would have been the attitude of most “white “ people at the time but it is possible to write historical fiction without appearing to condone the beliefs of the past (or rewriting history to give people anachronistic beliefs to make them more acceptable today.)
I also thought her relationship to the cook Bertha played into the Mammy stereotype.
It is true that conditions and the bitter unhappiness of enslaved peoples were depicted accurately, but the story made it seem that Elizabeth’s suffering was somehow worse.
The accents of the slave holders and the enslaved were surely anachronistic. The “whites” were still very much culturally aligned to Great Britain and the enslaved only a generation or two, at most, removed from their African origins.
If you are willing to ignore historical reality and can accept an extraordinary number of coincidences, then go ahead. I probably wouldn’t have written so much but the outstanding Amazon reviews made no mention of the things I have criticized.
Trigger Warning: this book includes graphic descriptions of rape, including marital rape.

2 people found this helpful

Twists and turns for a great story

A historical romance about a young woman that faces many challenges trying to escape an arranged marriage.
The story is not only about the romantic relationship of our main characters. It also touches some sore spots of human history; slavery and forced human breeding being the main ones.
However, it's Elizabeth's innocence at the love department and the wicked plan of a friend that leads her to suffer during her journey. Meanwhile, our hero is going through a difficult time in his life and fails to interpret Elizabeth's behavior. Well, misunderstandings are bound to happen.

The audio version is really good. The narrator puts a lot of emotion in the story. In my opinion, it's a bit slow, but nothing that I couldn't solve speeding it up a little.

1 person found this helpful

very good

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall