Author: Greer Macallister
Published: December 1st 2020 by Sourcebooks Landmark
Format: eBook, Paperback, 300 pages
Genre: Historical Ficton
Told in a back-and-forth style, the reader is taken on a historical adventure based on real events surrounding the Franklin Expedition. Virginia Reeves, who had lead pioneers across the Sierra’s, has been asked to lead twelve women to discover what had happened to this group of missing men of the Erebus and the Terror. Lady Jane Franklin wants this expedition to be covert and her name not mentioned but has strong opinions regarding who is to be part of the enterprise, leaving Virginia with a group ill-prepared for what lay ahead.
As the women set out and the horrors revealed, Virginia must fight her internal demons while keeping the group focused. As each woman exposes their strengths and deficits, they slowly decrease in number until there is no other choice, and those remaining must turn back. Upon returning to Boston, the real horror begins, with a trial that will lay Virginia Reeves’ bare.
Those more knowledgeable in this part of history may have guessed “the very bad thing” sooner than I did, but once revealed, there was an ah-ha moment that may have felt anticlimactic to others but was eye-opening all the while. Readers will have questions regarding why things played out the way they did, but that is what historical fiction is all about. Take parts of the truth, mix them up with a good imagination, add some more, and what you end up with is a gripping story.
As the women set out and the horrors revealed, Virginia must fight her internal demons while keeping the group focused. As each woman exposes their strengths and deficits, they slowly decrease in number until there is no other choice, and those remaining must turn back. Upon returning to Boston, the real horror begins, with a trial that will lay Virginia Reeves’ bare.
Those more knowledgeable in this part of history may have guessed “the very bad thing” sooner than I did, but once revealed, there was an ah-ha moment that may have felt anticlimactic to others but was eye-opening all the while. Readers will have questions regarding why things played out the way they did, but that is what historical fiction is all about. Take parts of the truth, mix them up with a good imagination, add some more, and what you end up with is a gripping story.
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