by George WB Scott

A Historical Fiction, 2023 by Black Rose Writing, 178 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:

Very dry prose reads like a history textbook for this family. Very little variety in sentence type of structure sets a slow pace and disconnects the characters from the reader.
Heavy emphasis on religion, which is common for the time period but also rather dull to read about. It makes a heavy handed point about one religion being better than another, which is even more ridiculous when it’s also making the point that followers of both made the same mistakes and choices. But I’m always one to hate hypocrisy so I’m sensitive to it in stories.
Lack of stakes. Other than learning about this family, I didn’t see an overall point to the story. There’s no real mystery, no big question, and no real danger.

Obviously well researched. Everything is appropriate to the time period and historically accurate for the story being told. In fact, there’s a list of sources at the back so you can check everything yourself.
The story is intended, I think, to show how religion gave men of the past hope in desperate times. It does that.

Readers who want a quick story about the history of the family or even of the uprising of Christianity in general will like this quick story.

For me, personally, this one was problematic. It contained too many elements of history framed as if to be forgivable or even brave when I think of them as abhorrent. Reviews are subjective and others may feel differently.