I have the privilege of receiving free books from Bethany Publishing House and am not paid for my review. I just finished the book “Rebellious Heart” written by Jody Hedlund. This book is set in colonial America when people were still under the rule of King George of Great Britain. Under that tyrannical law the people began to feel oppressed. This is previous to the revolutionary war. I am familiar with revolutionary times but have not read many books set in this time period which was very volatile, and quite dangerous for people who were beginning to question what it meant to be a “patriot.” In our times today it is hard for us to look back on a time of danger and see something as seemingly innocuous as helping a runaway indentured servant and realize the true danger that this inflicted upon both the person fleeing their dire circumstances and the person aiding them on their way to freedom. One of the main characters, a young lawyer trying to obey God’s law, not necessarily the law of the land states this and it sums up the premise of the book quite well: “sometimes in the course of history, man must look at whose law he is obeying and determine whether they are just and right and merciful. If the laws are based on tyranny, for the good of only a few instead of for all, then it becomes the duty of man to institute fairer laws.”
I particularly enjoyed this book with its drama and excitement. It was a murder mystery and in trying to seek justice, they also had to outwit their biggest rivals. The two main characters, Susanna Smith and Benjamin Ross were two very believable characters. They were drawn together through their joint interest and eventually do fall in love, but their social status made it virtually impossible for them to be together. I loved the way that Susanna’s character grew and changed throughout the course of the book. She had grown up thinking certain things were right...until she grew and matured and realized that perhaps not everything she had taken at face-value is the way that it is supposed to be. I loved the way Hedlund combined drama, mystery and a poignant love story in a very believable way. I could not wait to see the end of the story and at the same time was mourning the conclusion as this wonderful story would be completed.
The one critique that I give this novel is the fact that it did take a while for me to really get into the story. In all fairness, this historical arena is not one that I am familiar with and I believe that many readers would agree….and the author took that into account as she did much description at the beginning of the book. Because of that description and characterization, the story was not moving along at a quick enough pace at the beginning. However, once I was into the story, I was completely caught up in the work and could not wait to see how it would all come together in the end.
In all this is a wonderful read for those who love historical romantic novels with some plot twists and mystery involved. The danger of the story was truly believable and makes me very thankful for what our forefathers had to endure before the revolution to make us a truly free nation. In a way it is even a “coming of age” story with the main character as she comes into her own with her bravery, her ideas and her contemplation of what is truly right and wrong, even if that mean disobeying the “law.”
In the author’s note at the back of the book she told that this book was based loosely upon the characters of John and Abigail Adams, our nation’s second president and his first lady. Apparently there were letters written back and forth in their courtship, but many have since been lost. I thought that was very interesting and I did not know anything about this famous couple before reading this book. Though many of the plots twists etc. were fabricated as the author notes, this fact does make me more interested in learning about this historical couple and the author does give several resources in which to do just that.
In all I give this book a five out of five stars and highly recommend it.
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