3 out of 4 stars
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After reading this book, what crossed my mind was a statement I read somewhere that ‘Mother Earth does not care for humanity. Man could either care for her or suffer the consequences.' I think this is true, and it will be of great help if everyone remembers it. This book explores a lot of issues, but the dominant one is the need to conserve the environment.
The Promise Seed was written by Jody Glittenberg. It was published by Words With a Mission Publisher. The book contains 309 pages. It is an absorbing story of five generations of courageous homesteaders. The story is narrated in the third person point of view. The book is dedicated to all people around the world who join together to halt the destruction of resources, deeply respect all creatures, and also honor Mother Earth. Every environmental conservationist will enjoy reading it.
The Congress had just passed the Extended Homestead Act of 1909, and thousands were risking everything to go and settle in the prairie land in Colorado. The land was given for free. The prairie land was initially occupied by the Cheyenne people. However, they were relocated to a fenced place in Oklahoma. Therefore, the new settlers encountered no resistance. John William and his cousin, Gus, together with their families were among the people that moved to Colorado. John and Gus had to begin establishing their lives from a scratch. They have to live in a dugout house at the beginning. It is a hard time for both families as they were unused to this life in Storm Lake, Iowa. However, John died as he was helping to douse a fire that had begun in the prairie. He left behind his wife, Rose, and three children. Will they manage to survive in this new land?
One thing that I liked about the book was all the characters were built adequately. Emotions were conveyed in a way that one will have a sensation of what the different characters were feeling at various times. When John died, Rose felt hopeless and could not imagine living without him. She decided to commit suicide and was almost pulling the trigger when her young son, William, stopped her. It was hard to imagine how Rose could decide to leave her three children behind when things seemed to be falling apart. However, it demonstrated the intense affection that had developed between her and her husband, John William. The plot was equally developed well. It was easy to follow the story from the start to the end since all events could clearly be connected.
The author was able to interweave many themes to form this fascinating story. Themes like love, family, greed, religion, loss, agriculture, and environmental conservation were perfectly integrated. The contrast between some characters was brought out strongly. William and his brother, Hank, were so different that one could not believe they were related. There was a difference between John and Gus also.
The book was edited properly, but there are some errors that include misspelled words and missing speech marks. This could be improved if another round of editing is done. Therefore, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I recommend it to everyone who likes reading historical fiction books. It will appeal most to those who like stories set during First and Second World War. The story revolves mainly around farming. It alludes to Christianity a lot but this solely reflected how life was at that time. The story will leave all readers with a great deal to think about.
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The Promise Seed
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