A Love Woven True

Lights of Lowell #2

by Tracie Peterson, Judith McCoy Miller

Jasmine Houston, a widow with a young son, agrees to harbor former slaves at her horse farm outside of Lowell, even though her father, a plantation owner, supports slavery. When a boardinghouse keeper unwittingly becomes involved with a traveling peddler who sells something infinitely more valuable than shoes, Jasmine is devastated to discover that her son and the former slaves have been kidnapped. Jasmine's determination to free them threatens to undo her family as well as the ties that bind the burgeoning textile industry to the southern cotton growers. Book two in the bestselling Lights of Lowell.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Christian, Fiction, Romance, Historical, Historical Romance

352 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2004

About the author

Tracie Peterson is a bestselling author who writes in both historical and contemporary genres. Her novels reveal her love for research as well as her strong desire to develop emotionally meaningful characters and stories for her readers. Tracie and her family live in Montana.

pen name: Janelle Jamison

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

PG: This was an enjoyable historical fiction novel. There were a few things that annoyed me though.
1. Rogan or Paddy (don’t remember which one knew horses well) spotted the unique hoof prints of Oliver’s horse immediately and became suspicious of Oliver, yet nobody thought they should observe Oliver or follow him, to check up on him?
2. Eleanor is suspicious of Oliver but says nothing to the sheriff or anyone else while berating herself for saying too much about the other runaway slaves and yet didn’t say enough to help Naomi.
3. These are the most forgiving people ever! Hey I falsely accused you people, didn’t give you an opportunity to investigate or explain yourself, almost caused your business to go under & disparaged your reputation, but hey I’m sorry! Oh, no problem! Wait what?!? I mean an apology is fantastic but seems like you need to go around and undo the damage your scurrilous accusations caused.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second in a series starts up where the prior book ends. I won't detail the plot line as others have done so. I will just say that it is a continuation of an interesting story about slavery and those who support it and those who oppose it. And, what those stances meant for the people during this time period. It is one of love, courage, acceptance and forgiveness. No profanity. No sex. A mild but definitely present Christian theme. Looking forward to reading the next book.

[Deb Brammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jasmine Huston is raised on a plantation, but loves some of their slaves like family and sees them as equals. I love that. She moves to the North to be able to help slaves transition to free workers. Her character is admirable and, at one point, she is prepared to raise a slave's boy along with her son. She struggles to figure out how to live in a community who might not accept her choices.

This book would not be classified as suspense, but it does challenge the reader to consider the cost of standing up for what you believe in while continuing to live in a society with different values. Striving to make the dialog true to the historical setting, I feel the author goes a little far in that basically every line of dialog sounds stilted. Still this is an interesting book that makes you think and I did enjoy it.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than book 1 - definitely would have been hard to live during the slave era. Plantation owners treated them so poorly. Glad to know that Jasmine's family treated the slaves they owned better than most others did. When Naomi and Spencer get stolen, things got tense. Oliver was pretty crafty on how he got himself out of that mess. Sad that Naomi got sold back into slavery. Blacks were so looked down upon. Here Jasmine is trying to give Moses a good life and everyone around her is telling her it's a bad idea because of his skin color. Malcom came up with a brilliant plan and that was a happy ending to book 2.

[Danica is Booked · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot.

[Denise Lyon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite book. I had a hard time staying awake reading it. Didn't get better until chapter 12. I just guessing that this book is just to help go into the next book.

[Sally Lindsay-briggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

You would want to read this if: you are willing to wait until the last half of the book for something interesting to happen, you’re patient to have some romance develop but not until very late. It was just an okay book with some history, some good spiritual insights, and the different viewpoints of the men who owned slaves and those who were anti-slavery. I didn’t love the fact that 2 characters disappeared (no updates) and the bad guy never got punished.

[Ellen Spes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Antislavery

[Karen Ezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at slavery and lowell fabric mills.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a wonderful book that expresses the sorrow of the times of slavery and the progress of the underground railroad. Jasmine is moving on after the death of her husband Bradley and falling more in love with his brother Nolan. Nolan has been a great support with her growing son, spencer and with the business side of the shipping industry and horse farm Jasmine started with the help of her Irish friends, Paddy and his sister Kiara and her husband. Jasmine has endures more loss as she heads back to Mississippi when her mother and her Mammy fail to recover from yellow fever. While there she promises to free Mammy's unknown son from slavery. In keeping her promise she locates Obadiah and his wife, naomi, and their son Moses and returns to Lowell where she gives them a home and work for pay. Nolan finally asks Jasmine to marry him and while on their honeymoon, her son is kidnapped along with naomi, by a shoe peddler, Oliver, professing to be antislavery but really trying to make a profit off of recapturing the runaways and then selling them back into slavery. He really wanted Obadiah and takes naomi and who he supposed was moses as bait. His mistake causes more trouble. Oliver ends up getting found out about his skeem to sell the runaway slaves but only after he has sold naomi. Obadiah although a true freed slave goes back south to find naomi leaving moses in Jasmine's care. Mckinley decides to remain in Lowell and declare his feeling against slavery and finds that he wants to marry Violet Cheevers and works with her father in accounts with the associates. Loyalty is in question when defective cotton is delivered to the mills and family and employment ties are tested. The slavery issue becomes more of a family divide with the Wainwrights. Malcolm wainwright frees one of his slaves couples to raise Moses she that not only will moses be more happy but to mend the rift in his family and help in fulfilling jasmines promise to Obadiah.

[Cynthia Childress · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lights of Lowell series was EXCEPTIONAL. I think I finished the entire series in just a couple of weeks - woven with love, faith, even a bit of suspense, Tracie's books take me back in time and are so descriptive. I find myself hearing the voices of the characters speaking in their native dialect and seeing the emotion on their faces through their times of triumph and trial. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Tracie's books and haven't found one that I have not appreciated.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tale of Jasmine Houston and the textile mills of Massachusetts continues with lots of family interaction; a better marriage for Jasmine, the passing of her mother and her personal slave, a kidnapping and, of course, an array of unscrupulous characters. The book keeps moving with no dead spots. History of the textile industry is interspersed in the book as well as the battle for freeing slaves. An excellent read.

[LaSibila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jasmine Hudson regresa a la casa de su padre en el sur de Estados Unidos para visitar a su madre enferma y a su nana. Desde los primeros parrafos aprendemos que se casó con un hombre que no amaba, que apoya la abolicion de la esclavitud y su padre es esclavista. La trama regresa a estos puntos una y otra vez, y eso me aburrió en vez de capturar mi atención.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book fine. I listened while I painted in my house. I didn't love the characters or the storyline. It was slow moving and the conflict was not that compelling. It was clean, but I'm not sure it is worth my time to listen to the next one.

[Kresti Lyddon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book deals with Christian faith in the face of slavery just before the Civil War. I'd just read a book by Tracy Chevalier (The Last Runaway) about the same topic, and there were parts of that I liked better, and some of this was better...

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the era the story is written in. The lesson to trust God in every circumstance was well laid out in several scenarios; tragedy, job security, misunderstanding to name a few to which any reader can relate.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 2nd in the "Lights of Lowell" Series, this tells of the next phase of Jasmines life, after Bradley is gone...she gets on with life, keeping busy with what life brings daily...

[Bunni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great historical love story. Author creates fun characters.

[Stacey Head · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, wonderful

I am truly a!mazed as the authors take a difficult time in our history and turn it into a beautiful story.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a pretty good book. I only wish two of the characters would have returned at the end. It kinda left me hanging. I thought the time span between scenes were a bit long, too.

[AlegnaB † · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Mercy Dworzak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the story line was wonderful. It just could have used a better narrator.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very interesting Christian historical fiction novel causes the reader to experience the way differing views on slavery and abolition sometimes divided families. It is set right when the fugitive slave act was passed, and it surprised me how easily that could be taken advantage of. Jasmine's father's idea actually was in the best interest of the child she had guardianship of, and his brilliant thinking helped bring some in the family closer and freed Jasmine and her family to participate more in society without constantly worrying what would happen. I love Jasmine's hear and the way she tried to do the right thing no matter what the sacrifice was that she had to make, and she stood by her word. It is an enjoyable book.

[Megan Torrance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sequel to the first book! Jasmine continues to be a strong character in spite of tough life situations. She is inspiring. I also have enjoyed the deeper look into Eleanor Brighton.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Love Woven True by Tracie Peterson -- A beautiful and heartbreaking series about women who find the courage of their convictions in a world where money and hate seem unbeatable. Happy Reading!

[Carolyn Lockwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was masterfully written. The authors expertly and seamlessly wove together such historical events as the presidency and death of Zachary Taylor, the ramifications of the fugitive slave act, and the textile Mills of the north. I especially enjoyed experiencing the growth of the character Elinor, who began as an embittered widow and grew into a remarkable woman. I hope there's more about her in the next book.