What an emotional and all-encompassing historical romance from Lisa T Bergren! Set in 1772 on the island of Nevis in the West Indies, the story chronicles Keturah and her two younger sisters as they journey from England to the island in order to revive their deceased father's sugar plantation. Their six week ocean journey brings them to an island where their neighbors plot their failure simply because they're three women trying to make way in a man's world. They are fortunate to have Gray, an old friend from home, be a good neighbor to them, but violent bigotry, harsh weather conditions, terrible disease, and uncertainty of farming plague the sisters as they settle into their new home.
Keturah is a young widow who has been abused by her deceased husband and erects a wall around herself to become a stiff, hard, unbending, and bitter woman only set on never relying on another man and paving an easier life for her sisters. She isn't very likable in the beginning but does come around to accepting God's grace and mercy. Gray is a reformed rogue, a stout believer, and fully committed to making a small sugar plantation work by pouring his blood and sweat into the land. As their former childhood friendship blossoms into something more, they stand united in confronting mistreatment of slaves and women, even if it's only on their portions of land in Nevis.
I'm heading straight to read the next book about Verity, the middle Benning sister. I received a copy of the book from a giveaway on Christian Fiction Girl blog and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.
