Sunday, April 4, 2010

CFBA Tour and Book Review: Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Grace Whitson


This week, the



Christian Fiction Blog Alliance



is introducing



Sixteen Brides



Bethany House (April 2010)



by



Stephanie Grace Whitson


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A native of southern Illinois, Stephanie Grace Whitson has lived in Nebraska since 1975. She began what she calls "playing with imaginary friends" (writing fiction) when, as a result of teaching her four home schooled children Nebraska history.

She was personally encouraged and challenged by the lives of pioneer women in the West. Since her first book, Walks the Fire, was published in 1995, Stephanie's fiction titles have appeared on the ECPA bestseller list numerous times and been finalists for the Christy Award, the Inspirational Reader's Choice Award, and ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year.

Her first nonfiction work, How to Help a Grieving Friend, was released in 2005. In addition to serving in her local church and keeping up with two married children, two college students, and a high school senior, Stephanie enjoys motorcycle trips with her family and church friends.

Her passionate interests in pioneer women's history, antique quilts, and French, Italian, and Hawaiian language and culture provide endless story-telling possibilities.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

In 1872, sixteen Civil War widows living in St. Louis respond to a series of meetings conducted by a land speculator who lures them west by promising "prime homesteads" in a "booming community."

Unbeknownst to them, the speculator's true motive is to find an excuse to bring women to the fledgling community of Plum Grove, Nebraska, in hopes they will accept marriage proposals shortly after their arrival! Sparks fly when these unsuspecting widows meet the men who are waiting for them.

These women are going to need all the courage and faith they can muster to survive these unwanted circumstances--especially when they begin to discover that none of them is exactly who she appears to be.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Sixteen Brides, go HERE.

To purchase a copy of Sixteen Brides, click here.

My thoughts:

Honestly, this book was not all that impressive to me. I really wanted to like it because I've heard a lot of good things about Ms. Whitson's books. The beginning of the book was almost enough to make me put it down and not finish it, mostly because there were way too many characters to keep up with. Fortunately, only the beginning of the book centers around half or so of the sixteen brides, and then, dwindles to five main brides for the rest of the story. It took about 100 or so pages before the bulk of the story started to take shape, and it wasn't a fast-moving story because again, there were too many characters. If this had been a book that centered around 2 or 3 brides, I think I would've enjoyed it much more.

3 Stars

4 comments:

  1. You know your comments make a lot of sense. They tell us to be careful how many characters you introduce in the beginning - and how many you center on because you can really only connect with so many.

    I remember reading a book that overwhelmed me that way once. I couldn't remember who was who for a while and it bugged me to no end. I really almost put it down and didn't finish it.

    I'm glad this got better ~ but I thank you for your honest review.

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  2. Lee ~

    Thankfully, it did get better, or it would've gotten less than 3 stars, I do believe. It didn't start to pick up until there was a horse accident, then a lot of the main characters were split up in different locations. That helped me sooo much in trying to keep up with everyone. From that point on, thankfully, the book was pretty good.

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  3. You're honesty is refreshing!

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  4. I just brought this book home from the library today. I may rethink reading this. Thanks for the honest review.

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