A Bound Heart by Laura Frantz

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A Bound Heart

I am going to try to be very objective in this book review. The last fiction novel I read was amazing and I knew it would be hard to get any to compare. And so I am trying very hard to do this book justice.

I believe this is the third book I have read by Laura Frantz and possibly the best. I also liked The Lacemaker as I recall, but wasn't as fond of Moonbow Night.

The first thing I liked about this book is how every chapter started with a quote from somebody like Jane Austen, Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and some that I didn't know of as well. These quotes allowed you a bit of an idea of what the chapter might be about, plus they reminded me of the importance of capturing and writing down great quotes that I come across. That is one thing I really want to do better at, that thing of really seeing the written word and not just getting the gist of the story and moving on.

This book is set in the 1700s before the American Revolution and as stated on the back of the book, Magnus and Lark find themselves on the wrong side of the law back in Scotland, but are spared death and sent as indentures to Jamaica and the Virginia Colonies respectively. They both grew up together and you know where all that goes.  Slave trading is very commonplace and both seek to do what they can to relieve the slaves' misery.

What stuck out to me the most in this was their deep faith in God. They both were well-versed in Scripture and relied on prayer in a most confident and inspiring way.

I wasn't quite as fond of the Scottish words thrown in here and there. I understand that it can lend credence to the story and I am okay with a few words like "ken" etc. but to have to have a glossary of them was too many for me, as it didn't always feel consistent either. That's a minor complaint and it didn't really detract from the story that much once I got into the story. It was more bothersome to me at first.

This story is loosely based on some family history stemming down from Laura's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather who exiled to the American colonies for his role in the Jacobite Rebellion. Laura tried to reimagine what it might have been like for him .

I received this book from Revell and was not required to write a positive review.

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