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Daughter of the Sword
LOVE TRIUMPHANT--OVER ALL!
Violated and ensnared by a cruel, indomitable man--loved by another she might never possess--Deborah Whitlaw yearned for her own kind of freedom as Kansas bled for the evil of slavery.
Her steps haunted by death, her will lashed by unsated desire, Deborah vowed to follow her true path to enraptured union with her destined one...however far...no matter the cost!
Violated and ensnared by a cruel, indomitable man--loved by another she might never possess--Deborah Whitlaw yearned for her own kind of freedom as Kansas bled for the evil of slavery.
Her steps haunted by death, her will lashed by unsated desire, Deborah vowed to follow her true path to enraptured union with her destined one...however far...no matter the cost!
376 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1979
13 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Jeanne Williams
90 books19 followersPseudonyms: Megan Castell, Jeanne Crecy, Jeanne Foster, Deirdre Rowan, Kristian Michaels, J.R. Williams
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 25, 2016
I did manage to finish it even though I was underwhelmed by the romance aspect of this historical romance.
Did I learn a lot about Kansas'role in the US Civil War? Yes, the author was spewing out facts faster than I could absorb them. I was definitely interested and moved by some of the things I read, especially the battle at Lawrence, Kansas, a horror of war that still stands out in its savagery among so many horrors. But overall, it felt like a lot of info dumps, which I don't enjoy.
The romance of the book had no legs to stand on. The author gives us an extremely short description of the hero of the piece at the beginning, telling us rather than showing us the great love between him and the heroine, and expects us to pine away for him during his major absence from the story (sprinkled with intermittent, implausible returns that were just as brief). When I compare it to other books where the protagonists endure a long separation, like Celeste de Blasis' Wild Swan , it was an epic fail. The author was clearly not interested in developing the romance and as a result, neither was the reader. For Pete'sake, the lusty villain and the secondary would-be hero had more presence in the story!
The heroine was compelling. The author spent a long time developing her character as well as her family and close-knit circle of friends. If anything, it was these characters that the drama was centered around and they provided a pretty solid anchor to the litany of historical events unfolding around them.
This was overall a long history lesson that I certainly don't mind having sat through, since it concerns a setting and era (meticulously and authentically rendered) that I know nothing about. What brings me back to a book though, either in memory or re-reads, the existence of a compelling personal story, was absent.
Did I learn a lot about Kansas'role in the US Civil War? Yes, the author was spewing out facts faster than I could absorb them. I was definitely interested and moved by some of the things I read, especially the battle at Lawrence, Kansas, a horror of war that still stands out in its savagery among so many horrors. But overall, it felt like a lot of info dumps, which I don't enjoy.
The romance of the book had no legs to stand on. The author gives us an extremely short description of the hero of the piece at the beginning, telling us rather than showing us the great love between him and the heroine, and expects us to pine away for him during his major absence from the story (sprinkled with intermittent, implausible returns that were just as brief). When I compare it to other books where the protagonists endure a long separation, like Celeste de Blasis' Wild Swan , it was an epic fail. The author was clearly not interested in developing the romance and as a result, neither was the reader. For Pete'sake, the lusty villain and the secondary would-be hero had more presence in the story!
The heroine was compelling. The author spent a long time developing her character as well as her family and close-knit circle of friends. If anything, it was these characters that the drama was centered around and they provided a pretty solid anchor to the litany of historical events unfolding around them.
This was overall a long history lesson that I certainly don't mind having sat through, since it concerns a setting and era (meticulously and authentically rendered) that I know nothing about. What brings me back to a book though, either in memory or re-reads, the existence of a compelling personal story, was absent.
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August 3, 2021Very poor punctuation
The many punctuation errors detracted from this book. I appreciate how much research went into this book and the storyline is great; that's why I gave it 3 stars. Unfortunately, I had to go back and re-read many pages because the overuse of periods and commas made some sentences/paragraphs nonsensical.
The many punctuation errors detracted from this book. I appreciate how much research went into this book and the storyline is great; that's why I gave it 3 stars. Unfortunately, I had to go back and re-read many pages because the overuse of periods and commas made some sentences/paragraphs nonsensical.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews