Official Review: 'The Saga of Bridget and Amanda'
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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "'The Saga of Bridget and Amanda'" by Carole Love Forbes.]
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The story is told from an omniscient third-person point of view. The chapters are split up by characters, which are clearly labeled underneath the chapter number. The sections within may have different focal characters and they are adequately marked to avoid confusion.
The story begins with two young women meeting aboard the Atlanta, a ship headed to the New World. Bridget, an aristocrat, was taken against her will. Amanda accepted the offer to become an indentured servant to escape debtors’ prison. Both find themselves in terrible situations with overbearing men. They also both give birth to daughters. The story follows Bridget and Amanda; however as the novel progresses, more attention is given to their daughters and the real-life historical figures they meet. All four characters battle with oppression, broken hearts and impossible situations.
The book explores themes such as female empowerment, racism, love, the tenuous relationships between the Native Americans and the settlers, perseverance, and the overzealous religion of the Puritans.
The protagonists all possess progressive mentalities for this time period. It read as a little anachronistic in the beginning, but the non-fictional characters Forbes includes did have a lot of these points of view. Their influence helps give credence to the other characters’ beliefs.
For a book that constantly puts the main characters in bleak and seemingly inescapable situations, it lacks suspense. Every time one of the women gets in a bad spot, she is immediately saved by someone else. In a book so heavily focused on feminism and self-empowerment, it would have been nice to see them help themselves rather than constantly rely on the goodwill of others.
This novel has a lot of romances but few are really fleshed out. There will be some narrative buildup, which is great, but nearly every time the characters addressed their feelings they followed an anticlimactic formula. Additionally, when a character is having a justifiable emotional breakdown, they are immediately soothed by the first thing someone else says. These sorts of scenes had a lot of potential but were unfortunately robbed of it due to speedy conclusions. There are a couple romances that I really enjoyed though. I found myself liking a lot of the men involved in these romances. They’re all strong characters.
The novel is clearly well-researched. The author’s descriptions of the clothing, dwellings, architecture, transportation, etc. are beautiful and thorough. Sometimes, the details can get in the way of the narrative. When someone is explaining the history of a place or person, their dialogue reads like a long textbook rather than something a human being would say off the top of their head.
Now, before I get to the technical review of the book, I have to say that I was unable to open the book in the format the download link provided. I downloaded it, assigned it another file type, and then reverted it back to a PDF in order to read it. So the issues with formatting, like lines breaking off after two words, I’m going to chalk up to that. Either way, the book could use some professional editing. There are a few tense errors, such as: “However, she had left later than usual this night, having had to finish Lady Preem’s bonnet for delivery on the morrow.". Some character names aren’t consistent. The most frequent one is a servant whose name fluctuates between Libby and Letty. “Letty’s heart ached to hear the wails of crying that came through the walls. There was such pain in those outcries that Libby had felt like crying herself.” There are several missing quotation marks, typos, and grammatical errors. Here’s one example: “But, they will kill her! Screamed Bridget. "Stop! Stop it!.
I found myself enjoying reading it a fair amount of the time and believe that other readers could enjoy this book. This, in addition to how well-researched it is, inclines me to give it two out of four stars. I recommend this book to readers who love historical fiction, reading about characters realizing their feelings for one another, girl power, a lot of historical details and don’t mind technical errors. If historical facts bore you, you can’t get past technical errors, or you need your characters to really explore their feelings during a climactic moment, then this isn’t the book for you. It’s also not for anyone who is uncomfortable reading about violence or domestic and sexual abuse.
******
'The Saga of Bridget and Amanda'
View: on Bookshelves
Like Mallory Whitaker's review? Post a comment saying so!
The story is told from an omniscient third-person point of view. The chapters are split up by characters, which are clearly labeled underneath the chapter number. The sections within may have different focal characters and they are adequately marked to avoid confusion.
The story begins with two young women meeting aboard the Atlanta, a ship headed to the New World. Bridget, an aristocrat, was taken against her will. Amanda accepted the offer to become an indentured servant to escape debtors’ prison. Both find themselves in terrible situations with overbearing men. They also both give birth to daughters. The story follows Bridget and Amanda; however as the novel progresses, more attention is given to their daughters and the real-life historical figures they meet. All four characters battle with oppression, broken hearts and impossible situations.
The book explores themes such as female empowerment, racism, love, the tenuous relationships between the Native Americans and the settlers, perseverance, and the overzealous religion of the Puritans.
The protagonists all possess progressive mentalities for this time period. It read as a little anachronistic in the beginning, but the non-fictional characters Forbes includes did have a lot of these points of view. Their influence helps give credence to the other characters’ beliefs.
For a book that constantly puts the main characters in bleak and seemingly inescapable situations, it lacks suspense. Every time one of the women gets in a bad spot, she is immediately saved by someone else. In a book so heavily focused on feminism and self-empowerment, it would have been nice to see them help themselves rather than constantly rely on the goodwill of others.
This novel has a lot of romances but few are really fleshed out. There will be some narrative buildup, which is great, but nearly every time the characters addressed their feelings they followed an anticlimactic formula. Additionally, when a character is having a justifiable emotional breakdown, they are immediately soothed by the first thing someone else says. These sorts of scenes had a lot of potential but were unfortunately robbed of it due to speedy conclusions. There are a couple romances that I really enjoyed though. I found myself liking a lot of the men involved in these romances. They’re all strong characters.
The novel is clearly well-researched. The author’s descriptions of the clothing, dwellings, architecture, transportation, etc. are beautiful and thorough. Sometimes, the details can get in the way of the narrative. When someone is explaining the history of a place or person, their dialogue reads like a long textbook rather than something a human being would say off the top of their head.
Now, before I get to the technical review of the book, I have to say that I was unable to open the book in the format the download link provided. I downloaded it, assigned it another file type, and then reverted it back to a PDF in order to read it. So the issues with formatting, like lines breaking off after two words, I’m going to chalk up to that. Either way, the book could use some professional editing. There are a few tense errors, such as: “However, she had left later than usual this night, having had to finish Lady Preem’s bonnet for delivery on the morrow.". Some character names aren’t consistent. The most frequent one is a servant whose name fluctuates between Libby and Letty. “Letty’s heart ached to hear the wails of crying that came through the walls. There was such pain in those outcries that Libby had felt like crying herself.” There are several missing quotation marks, typos, and grammatical errors. Here’s one example: “But, they will kill her! Screamed Bridget. "Stop! Stop it!.
I found myself enjoying reading it a fair amount of the time and believe that other readers could enjoy this book. This, in addition to how well-researched it is, inclines me to give it two out of four stars. I recommend this book to readers who love historical fiction, reading about characters realizing their feelings for one another, girl power, a lot of historical details and don’t mind technical errors. If historical facts bore you, you can’t get past technical errors, or you need your characters to really explore their feelings during a climactic moment, then this isn’t the book for you. It’s also not for anyone who is uncomfortable reading about violence or domestic and sexual abuse.
******
'The Saga of Bridget and Amanda'
View: on Bookshelves
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