Westward

Westward #1

by Amanda MacLean

Plantation-born artist Julianna St. Claire finds herself in the middle of an Indian uprising in New Mexico, and torn between the love of two men: Parker James, whom she believes to be a government traitor; and Matthias Graves, a debonair but deceptive outlaw. Julianna draws on an untapped inner strength to escape entrapment and find the love-and perfect Light-for which she had been searching.

Genres: Fiction

289 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

pen name for Diane Noble

Reviews

[Nadine Keels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in the '90s, I found the third book in the Westward historical ChristFic series at the library. I didn't get far into the story (sometimes I feel weird jumping straight to the middle or end of a series), but even though I forgot that book's title and author, I never forgot the look of the romantic, illustrated cover art that drew me to the novel.

So, when I recently came across this first book in the series for the first time (Westward), and I recognized the cover of the third book listed with it (Everlasting), my nostalgic side wanted to finally go back and try this series from the beginning. Admittedly, given my experience with other books from this genre's earlier days, I wasn't necessarily expecting superb writing but rather overall entertainment value.

I found the writing style in this novel to be rather basic and sometimes repetitive in its descriptions, with much about the plot being too obvious and predictable for me, and the plot points meant to lead to the evangelistic/salvational lessons are common and conspicuous. Also, the characters would have needed more dimension for me to find the romance compelling, and in light of the love triangle, the heroine switches from nearly "all in" with one man to "all in" with the other far too quickly.

On a different note, I inwardly cringed during the parts where Juliana and Callie longingly view their family's plantation through privileged eyes, the story making passing mentions of "slave quarters" without ever showing any of the enslaved people, as if to keep those people essentially invisible, despite their being the ones whose forced labor made the sisters' plantation lives so luxurious and comfortable.

Yet, as it seems there's more about the plantation to come later in the series, the larger story arc might address the enslaved people there. Also, knowing that indigenous people would likely play a role in this tale of westward travel, I was glad to see that they're not all treated as figures only there for the sake of Western danger and violence. Granted, I did a little additional cringing at the seemingly adventurous tint painted over the issue of wagon train members killing buffalo for sport, but again, the plight of indigenous peoples may be addressed further as the series continues.

In all, Juliana's determination to forge a new life, the rigors of wagon train travel, and the thread of political intrigue in this easy read did indeed give me the degree of entertainment I was looking for.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book way back in 1995 when it was first published, and could remember nothing about it. So reading it a second time was like reading it for the first time. I really enjoyed it. I was pretty sure Julianna ended up with thee right guy, but was worried for a while that she would not. Great plot and characters.

[Carolyn Lockwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good historical fiction. A few awkward moments. For instance, the author described the sky as "star spangled". I was getting ready to sing the national anthem. The relationship between Parker and Juliana was too rushed imo.

[Linda Aldridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars