Honor

Honor is a young Quaker woman who stands to inherit her grandfather's plantation. When she does, she plans to free the slaves and sell the tobacco farm. Her grandfather learns of her plans and puts a kink in them by disinheriting Honor and giving the plantation to her cousin Darah. Grandfather provides Honor with one slave, Royale, for a maid and one hundred dollars. Honor travels to Pittsburgh to stay with her cousin Miriam, and finds that Miriam is in poor health and dying. The one thing Miriam wants is for Honor to marry her son, Samuel, who is deaf. This begins Honor's lifelong adventure of living in Ohio with a deaf husband, his nephew, and a few assorted paid servants. Honor and Samuel go through the kidnapping of Royale and Samuel's nephew, Eli; the prejudices of the people who live in Ohio, the difficulty of setting up a new home and a new business--a glassworks, and some very unfriendly slave-catchers. Because of Honor's faith, she doesn't believe in keeping slaves and does everything she can to help any runaways that happen to get to the new farm where she and Samuel are living.

Lyn Cote writes books that describe strong women with strong faith. They are independently minded, and yet, want the same love and nurture of their friends. They need the strength of the men in their lives to lean on at times. Her books are compelling and engaging, if not inspiring. Her main characters have strength of faith and strength of convictions. Honor is no different. She can't stand to see someone in pain if she can alleviate it, she takes in a deaf child because she has learned the sign language her husband communicates with, she helps him with his business of glass-blowing, and then she deals with the runaways and the slave catchers. I loved Honor and her strength.

Definitely Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a hand-blown glass bottle.

I was provided this book to read and review in exchange for my honest opinion. No remuneration was given or accepted for my review.