Book Babe: Colonial America

Friday, March 27, 2015

Letters to Kezia

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Publication Date: January 14, 2015

iUniverse

Formats: eBook, Paperback

Pages: 208

Series: Book Two, The Puritan Chronicles

Genre: Historical Fiction

It is 1693 in Hereford, Connecticut, when Mary Case, the spinster daughter of a Puritan minister, finds herself hopelessly smitten by the roguish thief, Daniel Eames. Betrothed to a man she does not like or love, she is soon compelled to help Daniel escape from jail. Suddenly, she finds herself on the run, not only accused of being Daniel's accomplice, but also of murder.

The fugitive pair soon finds solace-and a mutual attraction-among the escapee's Algonquin friends until two men from Daniel's dark past hunt them down. After Mary is captured and returned home to await trial, a tragedy takes the life of her younger sister, revealing a dark secret Mary's father has kept for months. But just as Mary learns she is pregnant, she makes a horrifying discovery about Daniel that changes everything and prompts her to develop an unlikely bond with his mother, Rebecca, who soon saves Mary from a shocking fate. It is not until years later that her daughter, Kezia, finally learns the truth about her biological father and family.

Letters to Kezia shares a courageous woman's journey through a Puritan life and beyond as she struggles with adversity and betrayal, and discovers that loyalty can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.

*****REVIEW*****

The strength of this book is in its characters and the relationships between them. I did not read the first book, but I was very moved by historical personage Rebecca Eames when she eventually appeared in this novel. She was portrayed as an admirable woman. I also really liked the protagonist, Mary Case, who was very genuine in her struggle to survive while still trying to be a decent human being.

Letters to Kezia was a compelling page turner that caused me to stay up well past my bedtime. I was glad that readers only see brief excerpts from the letters because epistolary novels tend to lack immediacy. The novel is mostly told as a long flashback. It's very understandable that Mary was unable to speak about her past. That's what makes the letters narrative framework necessary. She couldn't just tell her daughter, Kezia, the story. It would have been too upsetting emotionally for Mary, and it would also have been harder for Kezia to deal with. So the narrative format did work for me.

Readers who love dogs may find a couple of scenes in this novel too troubling to read. There was one scene in particular that I found very cruel from an emotional standpoint to male protagonist Daniel Eakins' loyal dog. So consider yourselves warned.

I also have to admit that I found all the major plot developments predictable. There were no surprises for me. As a reader, it's not always necessary for me to be surprised. I was invested in the characters, and that carried me through the book. For the most part, I enjoyed reading Letters to Kezia very much.

I would like to thank Peni Jo Renner for the free copy of this book which I received through this blog tour.

Buy the Book

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About the Author

PENI JO RENNER is the author of the IPPY award-winning novel, Puritan Witch: the Redemption of Rebecca Eames. Originally from North Dakota, Peni now lives with her husband in Maryland where she is currently researching for the third book in the Puritan Chronicles series.

For more information please visit the Puritan Witch Website and Facebook Page. You can also follow Peni Jo Renner on Twitter.

Letters to Kezia Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, March 9

Interview at Flashlight Commentary

Guest Post at What Is That Book About

Tuesday, March 10

Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Review at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book

Wednesday, March 11

Guest Post at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Thursday, March 12

Guest Post at Mythical Books

Spotlight & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Friday, March 13

Review at Just One More Chapter

Review at Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, March 16

Interview at Becky on Books

Spotlight at A Literary Vacation

Tuesday, March 17

Review at Deal Sharing Aunt

Wednesday, March 18

Review at Quirky Book Reviews

Thursday, March 19

Review at Book Nerd

Interview at Dianne Ascroft Blog

Friday, March 20

Review at 100 Pages a Day

Review at Bibliophilia, Please

Review & Interview at Jorie Loves a Story

Monday, March 23

Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Friday, March 27

Review at Book Babe

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Goddess Born: A Magically Gifted Healer Faces Witch Hysteria in 18th Century Pennsylvania

In colonial America the concept of an ethical magical practitioner didn’t exist. There was no vocabulary that would allow people to discuss such a person, and therefore no way to even imagine that someone like the protagonist of Goddess Born could be real. Selah Kilbrid was a healer and midwife in a predominately Quaker town in Pennsylvania, but she was also secretly a descendant of the Goddess Brigid who gave her super-human powers to heal magically. In modern parlance, I would characterize Selah as a priestess of Brigid. In 1730 the full truth about Selah could never be known because she would be condemned as a witch. Selah is forced to take some highly unusual steps to escape this accusation. Historically, colonial witch hysteria targeted people who didn’t practice magic at all with the possible exception of the slave Tituba, but Goddess Born by Kari Edgren is a historical paranormal romance. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

We generally associate Puritans with colonial witch hysteria, not Quakers. Since Quakers are supposed to be non-violent and officially did not believe in witchcraft, it’s hard to imagine that the lodging of a formal accusation of witchcraft would have arisen in Pennsylvania during that time period. Yet it actually did happen once. See Pennsylvania's Only Witch Trial on the website Quakers in the World to learn more.

This has been a year in which I’ve discovered historical Quakers engaging in activities that are against Quaker principles. In Slavery and the Meetinghouse by Ryan P. Jordan, which I reviewed on my blog at http://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/2014/08/slavery-and-meetinghouse-complex.html, I read about Quaker abolitionists who carried guns and even some Quakers who fought in the Civil War. These are Quakers that I had never envisaged. The modern Quakers that I’ve encountered have been strong proponents of non-violence. Now Kari Edgren has asked me to contemplate 18^th century Quakers persecuting a young woman who had benefited many members of her community. Do I think it’s believable? Unfortunately, I do. There was another novel that I read some time ago which causes me to find Goddess Born credible. It was Impassioned Clay by Stevie Davies (1999) which deals with Quakers persecuting women as heretics in 17^th century England. Stevie Davies is a historian who also wrote a non-fiction book called Unbridled Spirits which, as one of the reviews on Goodreads points out, contains some Quaker women. For more information about Stevie Davies, see her website at http://www.steviedavies.com/.

This book does contain some predictable elements that are due to its being a romance. Romance readers will want to know whether it adheres to the rule that every romance must end with HEA. I have to tell them that it isn’t quite HEA. Goddess Born ends with the chance of HEA which could be setting up for a sequel. A sequel would justify a delayed HEA. I found the ending a satisfying one. It resolves the Pennsylvania story line. I also enjoyed both the heroine and the hero. The heroine was unusual and the hero turned out to be both courageous and principled.

***

The power to heal is her divine gift, the fear of discovery, her mortal curse.

Selah Kilbrid is caught between two worlds. A direct descendant of the Celtic goddess Brigid, she is bound by Tuatha Dé law to help those in need. Yet as a human, she must keep her unique abilities hidden or risk being charged for a witch. In 1730 Pennsylvania, the Quaker community of Hopewell has become a haven for religious freedom—and fanaticism—and there are those who would see her hanged if the truth were revealed.

For eighteen years, Selah safely navigates the narrow gap between duty and self-preservation, until the day a prominent minister uncovers her secret. Obsessed with her power, Nathan Crowley disregards her betrothal to a distant cousin from Ireland and demands marriage in exchange for his silence. Selah stalls for time, but when news reaches the Colonies of her cousin’s death, time has run out.

Rather than submit to Nathan, Selah coerces a stranger to pose as her husband. It’s a good plan—her only plan—even though Henry Alan harbors his own dark secrets. But when she returns to Hopewell a married woman, the real fight has just begun. As unseen forces move against her, Selah doesn’t know which poses the greater danger—a malignant shadow closing in from outside or the internal fire that threatens to consume her heart.

Book Two in the Goddess Born series will be published in November 2014 and Book Three in June 2015.

Buy the eBook

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Carina Press

***

About the Author

Kari Edgren did not dream of becoming a writer. Instead, she dreamed of everything else and was often made to stay inside during kindergarten recess to practice her letters. Despite doting parents and a decent school system, Ms. Edgren managed to make it through elementary school having completed only one book cover to cover – The Box Car Children, which she read approximately forty-seven times. Things improved during high school, but not until she read Gabrielle Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude in college, did she truly understand the power of a book.

Ms. Edgren aspires to be a Vulcan, a world-acclaimed opera singer, and two inches taller. She resides in the Pacific NW where she spends a great deal of time torturing her husband and children with strange food and random historical facts. Ms. Edgren hasn’t stopped dreaming, but has finally mastered her letters enough to put the stories on paper.

For more information please visit Kari Edgren’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, andGoodreads.