Many Sparrows

33775907

Many Sparrows
Lori Benton
Waterbrook

When settler Clare Inglesby is widowed on a mountain crossing and her young son, Jacob, captured by Shawnees, she'll do everything in her power to get him back, including cross the Ohio River and march straight into the presence of her enemies deep in Indian country. Frontiersman and adopted Shawnee, Jeremiah Ring, promises to guide Clare through the wilderness and help her recover Jacob.
Once they reach the Shawnees and discover Jeremiah's own Shawnee sister, Rain Crow, has taken
custody of Jacob--renaming him Many Sparrows--keeping his promise becomes far more complicated, the consequences more wrenching, than Jeremiah could have foreseen.

     There are a few authors out there who I will pretty much read no matter what. Lori Benton is one of them. Her stories are heartrending, powerful, and thick with meaning and emotion. Her newest novel, Many Sparrows, is no exception. I admit that the beginning of this book was a little hard for me: not only is the plot incredibly frustrating and disheartening, but it was difficult for me to like Clare, even though I had sympathy for her terrible situation. However, in the end, I couldn't help but pulled in, and the last half of the book had me flying through the pages to find out what would happen next. Benton handles the conflict of the frontier and the tensions between the settlers and Indians deftly, showing both sides as human and imperfect, but also capable of sacrifice and most importantly, forgiveness.

     While I didn't like this one quite as much as the other novels I've read by Lori Benton, it was a good book, and it's made me even more eager to read The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn, which has been on my to-read list for far too long.

I received this book for free from bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for my honest review.

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