Through Tempest Forged by Barbara Passaris
This novel tells the story of Paul and Elizabeth Rogers as they watch and guide their children grow up and get married as the country is on the brink of the Revolutionary War. The Rogers have three daughters and two sons and live on a plantation that Paul and his father built through hard work and determination. As their daughters move toward marriage, the country is moving toward revolution. For Paul, who remains loyal to the King of England, this makes finding suitable husbands that much more difficult.
I really wanted to enjoy this novel. It is over 600 pages and I love to sink my teeth into large novels. Unfortunately, I was not able to get past page 140. While I certainly got to know the Rogers family, the dialog was almost too formal and the narrative was often repetitive. For example, Paul and Elizabeth have several terse discussions about their “run-away” son, John Peter. While I understand that this situation is upsetting to them and that they are not completely of one mind about how to handle it, I got impatient with how often this part of the story was reinforced. When story points weren’t being revisited, the characters were often thinking things that overstate the obvious. It was this type of narration that made the book seem feel heavy. If the writing had been tightened, the author could have covered in 30 to 40 pages what occurred during the 140 I read.
The description sounds like something more apropos to young adult literature, and not 600 pages of material. I guess I won’t be putting this one of the wishlist.
Maybe that’s why the somewhat explicit sexuality really didn’t sit right with me. I was worried that I was becoming a prude in my old age.
It just felt like too much information. There are novels where the details work and this wasn’t it for me.
That being said, there may very well be more adult subject matter as the novel went on, but I just didn’t get that far.