Review by ab2020 -- Forgiven by Geoff Lawson
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ab2020
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Review by ab2020 -- Forgiven by Geoff Lawson
[Following is a volunteer review of "Forgiven" by Geoff Lawson.]
3 out of 4 stars
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OK, here's a little activity for you to try. Name ten historical fiction books. How many of those revolve around a romance of some sort? Unless you happen to actively seek out non-romance historical fiction, the answer is probably pretty close to ten. There isn’t necessarily something wrong with that; in fact, romance-heavy historical fiction can be quite enjoyable. If you do prefer historical fiction with a good amount of romance in it, you might want to read Forgiven by Geoff Lawson.
Forgiven is set during the years from 1898 to 1900 in New Zealand and South Africa. The protagonist is a New Zealander by the name of Richard Wilson who joins the British Army during the Second Boer War. The novel consists of two separate timelines. The first follows Richard as he meets and falls in love with Rachel Purdue. The second, which takes place around a year later, follows Richard after he arrives in South Africa and becomes involved in counter-espionage operations in the war.
There is one great paradox about Forgiven that any potential reader should probably be aware of. On one hand, this is an extremely well-researched novel. The scenes set in South Africa are particularly vivid and historically accurate. The author has clearly put effort into making the Second Boer War come alive as a historical event. On the other hand, the scenes set in New Zealand are anything but historically realistic. Rachel is depicted like a contemporary woman who lives a highly independent life. Her relationship with Richard is also very modern, and social constraints of the era are more or less ignored. New Zealand was a relatively progressive nation in terms of women’s rights, but Richard and Rachel’s love-at-first-sight (or “insta-love”) romance still seems a little too unconstrained.
One effect of this paradox is that the two plotlines often seem disjointed. I understand that the author is trying to connect Richard’s life before the war to his life during the war. However, the timelines are only around one year apart, and the constant switching back and forth didn’t seem to add much to the story. As I mentioned above, Richard and Rachel fall in love almost instantly, and their romance lacks depth. Thus, the scenes that depict their romance fail to reveal much about their personalities. In other words, the romance seemed less like a complete plotline and more like a plot device meant to drive Richard’s actions and feelings in the war scenes.
Overall, Forgiven is a well-written novel. The prose flows smoothly, especially in the war scenes. Though the problems mentioned above did prove bothersome, I enjoyed the author’s style, and the book still has plenty of merit. Unfortunately, I found quite a few errors; the author seems to have left out a lot of commas usually considered necessary, so some sentences were a little bit difficult to understand. If you can get past these errors, you will probably enjoy the story. Therefore, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend it to those who enjoy historical fiction, romance, or books about times and places (i.e. the Second Boer War in South Africa) that aren’t written about very often.
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Forgiven
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
3 out of 4 stars
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OK, here's a little activity for you to try. Name ten historical fiction books. How many of those revolve around a romance of some sort? Unless you happen to actively seek out non-romance historical fiction, the answer is probably pretty close to ten. There isn’t necessarily something wrong with that; in fact, romance-heavy historical fiction can be quite enjoyable. If you do prefer historical fiction with a good amount of romance in it, you might want to read Forgiven by Geoff Lawson.
Forgiven is set during the years from 1898 to 1900 in New Zealand and South Africa. The protagonist is a New Zealander by the name of Richard Wilson who joins the British Army during the Second Boer War. The novel consists of two separate timelines. The first follows Richard as he meets and falls in love with Rachel Purdue. The second, which takes place around a year later, follows Richard after he arrives in South Africa and becomes involved in counter-espionage operations in the war.
There is one great paradox about Forgiven that any potential reader should probably be aware of. On one hand, this is an extremely well-researched novel. The scenes set in South Africa are particularly vivid and historically accurate. The author has clearly put effort into making the Second Boer War come alive as a historical event. On the other hand, the scenes set in New Zealand are anything but historically realistic. Rachel is depicted like a contemporary woman who lives a highly independent life. Her relationship with Richard is also very modern, and social constraints of the era are more or less ignored. New Zealand was a relatively progressive nation in terms of women’s rights, but Richard and Rachel’s love-at-first-sight (or “insta-love”) romance still seems a little too unconstrained.
One effect of this paradox is that the two plotlines often seem disjointed. I understand that the author is trying to connect Richard’s life before the war to his life during the war. However, the timelines are only around one year apart, and the constant switching back and forth didn’t seem to add much to the story. As I mentioned above, Richard and Rachel fall in love almost instantly, and their romance lacks depth. Thus, the scenes that depict their romance fail to reveal much about their personalities. In other words, the romance seemed less like a complete plotline and more like a plot device meant to drive Richard’s actions and feelings in the war scenes.
Overall, Forgiven is a well-written novel. The prose flows smoothly, especially in the war scenes. Though the problems mentioned above did prove bothersome, I enjoyed the author’s style, and the book still has plenty of merit. Unfortunately, I found quite a few errors; the author seems to have left out a lot of commas usually considered necessary, so some sentences were a little bit difficult to understand. If you can get past these errors, you will probably enjoy the story. Therefore, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend it to those who enjoy historical fiction, romance, or books about times and places (i.e. the Second Boer War in South Africa) that aren’t written about very often.
******
Forgiven
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Latest Review: The Altitude Journals by David J Mauro
