Friday, May 23, 2014

Review: The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn

The Pursuit of Tamsen LittlejohnThe Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn by Lori Benton

Tamsen wants to escape. Her step-father is forcing a betrothal and after his harsh treatment, she wants no man her father arranges to wed. She locates a frontiersman, Jesse Bird, to help her flee, but will running overmountain be safer?

Author Lori Benton weaves a fascinating historical tale about finding safety, love, and family. The historical background highlights a little known (or forgotten) piece of American history on the State of Franklin. During that time, many disputes were fought between Carolina and Franklin. It's also a time of civilization, wilderness, settlers, and Native Americans. All in all, the historical elements are imbedded into the tale, but are not the true highlight of this historical tale. Benton's history was well developed and enjoyable. Her end notes were interesting and helpful. I was very happy to read her resources that she used when she researched her novel.

Back to the main storyline, the verb throughout the entire tale is pursuit. Tamsen is pursuing freedom, her step-father and rejected suitor are pursuing Tamsen and her overmountian man, Jesse. In the meantime, Jesse is pursing safety for Tamsen as well as her heart. There are other characters in the settlements and wilderness who are pursuing various people, feelings, and places, but I don't want to give away everything! Faith is sprinkled throughout this piece. It was not forced, but spoken well between believers. They shared their memorized passages and the importance to laying it all in God's hands.

Tamsen's tale is a standalone novel just as Benton's first novel, Burning Sky. If you enjoyed reading Burning Sky, you will enjoy The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn. If you enjoy Colonial history or little known/forgotten history, you'll enjoy this unique novel. Thank you, WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for sharing this title with me. I hope Ms. Benton continues to write more novels!

Time Period: 1787
Location: Watauga settlement, North Caroline, USA

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

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