Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Through Rushing Water by Catherine Richmond ~ Review


At the prologue, I couldn’t help having sympathy for this main character. Being spurned by the guy who has made you think he wants to marry you in front of hundreds of people? People that all knew he was sure serious about our heroine. Yeah, I cringed more than a little bit for the poor woman.
            
After being “left at the altar”, Sophia is determined to do something that will give her something…and hopefully get her back to her homeland. Being a teacher to Indians wasn’t really her plan. Watching her change from the inside out, was a beautiful sight in this character. I loved that she took on their plight and fought for it like it was her own.
          
  I will admit I did not like the book near as much as I expected. The plot seemed lost many times and the romance weak amongst the background of the main story of protecting and providing for the Indians. I couldn’t truly identify with the characters, though I loved Sophia’s determination and heart. It just all seemed too much and too…lost.
           
That isn’t to say there aren’t good qualities to the story. Will is a charming character and a great hero. I wish I could have gotten to know him a bit better. The ending was a happy one and the preacher was good at making me dislike him. ;-)
           
All in all, not my favorite yes, but enjoyable qualities still to the story.
          
This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review.

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More about the novel...

Sophia has her life all planned out-but her plan didn't include being jilted or ending up in Dakota Territory.


Sophia Makinoff is certain 1876 is the year that she'll become the wife of a certain US Congressman, and happily plans her debut into the Capitol city. But when he proposes to her roommate instead, Sophia is stunned. Hoping to flee her heartache and humiliation, she signs up with the Board of Foreign Missions on a whim.


With dreams of a romantic posting to the Far East, Sophia is dismayed to find she's being sent to the Ponca Indian Agency in the bleak Dakota Territory. She can't even run away effectively and begins to wonder how on earth she'll be able to guide others as a missionary. But teaching the Ponca children provides her with a joy she has never known-and never expected-and ignites in her a passion for the people she's sent to serve.


It's a passion shared by the Agency carpenter, Willoughby Dunn, a man whose integrity and selflessness are unmatched. The Poncas are barely surviving. When US policy decrees that they be uprooted from their land and marched hundreds of miles away in the middle of winter, Sophia and Will wade into rushing waters to fight for their friends, their love, and their destiny.

10 comments:

  1. Casey,
    I appreciate your honest reviews and also that you share what you do like about this novel even though, as you say, it wasn't one of your favorites.

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    1. I try. I know there are other readers out there who like the books I don't, so I try and be sensitive to that. :)

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  2. I'm about halfway through and I'm definitely up in the air about it. There are things I really like and yet I'm not fully committed to the story and characters. Going to try to finish it today and see what my overall impression is.

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    1. I agree with your thoughts, Bookworm. I'd be interested to know what you think when you're done.

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  3. Absolutely gorgeous cover! Thanks for the review!

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    1. It IS a good cover! Both of her books have had great covers.

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  4. Thank you for the great review, aS ALWAYS. lOVE THE cOVER AND Cn't wait to read this Book.
    Blessings

    ingrids62448(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  5. Great review, Casey. Like Beth said, your honesty rocks...

    And I agree with the others who said that cover is beautiful!!

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  6. Casey, Thank you for your honest review of Through Rushing Water. It was a challenge to write a romance around the eviction of the Ponca tribe - no one writes romances set in the Holocaust, or Killing Fields of Cambodia, or during the genocide in Sudan. Through Rushing Water was fueled by my mission trips to Jamaica. A mission trip is a great place to check out a potential spouse - how does this person act when all is lost, when conditions are grim and hopeless. But at the same time, how can anyone feel happy against the background of such poverty?
    Many of the preacher's words were taken from writings of the 1870s - infuriating! But what an awful job this minister had - trying to convince people God loves them when everything's gone wrong and they are starving to death.
    The TN cover artists used some location photos I took - but I never imagined how beautiful it would look!
    Blessings on your mission, Casey!

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