Historical Fiction submerged in, shall I say a thrilling fantasy or a fantastical thriller, makes quite the mix and that is the bait, which I feel, gives this author's work a good hook to lure young teenage readers to peruse its pages. A monster or monsters are thrown in for good measure - who would have thought it or they, mixed well with the history of true life events! The niche in time of history takes us back to April 1619 and a voyage from London and the landing upon New World soil in Jamestown, Virginia, with a few glitches back to recent-ish years leading up to this voyage and scenario.
Unusual bedfellows are Will - the dead man, Margaret - the man dressed as a woman, and Will's supposed son Xander of African gene pool descent. Life in the New World was not easy but it was a varietable, unending, of almost more-than-one-could-chew adventure, what with Powahtans on one side, a monster or more, and enemies of unknown number or face, lurking, just plain survival of the fittest, was essential. The characters never knew what would descend upon them next. Will had a few aces up his sleeve though and with Margaret and Xander as co-conspirator cohorts, they just might stand a chance.
It may be wise to have some parental guidance due to some gruesome descriptions of death and carnage. Much of the story is believeable except of course, the monster bits. Ha, ha. Then, again, I felt hints of allegory in the prose that could well relate to human nature with this thing of darkness casting a foreboding aura of prescence. That could just be me. Others may have other interpretation or just read the book at face value. Give it a go and see for yourself.
Another thing I'm happy about is that the author mentions, through Will, how appalling and unpardonable slavery is and how unthinkable that such practices had reached the New World.
The end of the book has some mention of the real facts regarding the voyage of the George and other true events and people of those times, which I find good to know especially when reading Historical Fiction. Being able to know which is actual fact and which is fiction at least gets one to learn something from reading a book, yet in a more exciting manner.
~Eunice C., Reviewer/Blogger~
February 2022
Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the complimentary review copy sent by NetGalley and the publisher.
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