Helpful Score: 7
First Line: For a time Alice remembered the good and forgot the bad, but after a while she remembered the bad and then had to forget everything to get rid of it; when it came back it came back in bits, like the pieces in a month-old stew-- all the same gray color and smelling like sick, not one thing whole in the entire kettle.
Alice Cole was seven years old when she and her family boarded the ship to America in 1756. By the time the ship docked, Alice and her father were the only two of the family left alive. Without a backward glance, Alice's father gave her over to John Morton as an indentured servant. It was the only way he had to pay off the debt of their passage.
Fortunately the next eight years were relatively good ones for Alice. She was treated like a member of the Morton family and believed she was a friend to the daughter of the house. But when Nabby Morton is married and the two girls move into Emery Verley's house, fifteen-year-old Alice finds herself the victim of sexual abuse by Nabby's husband. Having no recourse, Alice manages to stow away on a ship headed for Boston where she eventually finds herself living with the Widow Berry (last seen in Gunning's novel The Widow's War). The world has taught Alice to mistrust everyone's motives. Will she be able to learn to trust the Widow Berry?
Sally Gunning's historical novels, The Widow's War and Bound are a treat to read. The setting and period detail put me right in the action with the characters. Whereas Gunning shows us the plight of widows in eighteenth century America in The Widow's War, she tackles the subject of indentured servants in Bound.
In many ways the lives of indentured servants were even worse than those of slaves. Slave owners had made an investment in their slaves, and it was good business sense to see that they were fed and clothed properly. Since indentured servants were only going to be around for a prescribed length of time, it wasn't unusual for those who owned their indenture papers to spend as little on them as possible. All too many indentured servants found themselves worked hard and fed very little.
To see this practice through the eyes of a young girl is illuminating. Many a time I wanted to shake some sense into Alice as she made one wrong decision after another, but I had to make myself stop and realize that she was very young and had no reason at all to trust anyone. The only person she knew she could rely on was herself. The Widow Berry had years of bad lessons to overcome with Alice, and as the pages turned in Bound, I really wanted to see how it would all turn out.
If you like well-written stories set in colonial New England that have strong characters, excellent period detail and a smoothly plotted story line, give Sally Gunning a try!
Alice Cole was seven years old when she and her family boarded the ship to America in 1756. By the time the ship docked, Alice and her father were the only two of the family left alive. Without a backward glance, Alice's father gave her over to John Morton as an indentured servant. It was the only way he had to pay off the debt of their passage.
Fortunately the next eight years were relatively good ones for Alice. She was treated like a member of the Morton family and believed she was a friend to the daughter of the house. But when Nabby Morton is married and the two girls move into Emery Verley's house, fifteen-year-old Alice finds herself the victim of sexual abuse by Nabby's husband. Having no recourse, Alice manages to stow away on a ship headed for Boston where she eventually finds herself living with the Widow Berry (last seen in Gunning's novel The Widow's War). The world has taught Alice to mistrust everyone's motives. Will she be able to learn to trust the Widow Berry?
Sally Gunning's historical novels, The Widow's War and Bound are a treat to read. The setting and period detail put me right in the action with the characters. Whereas Gunning shows us the plight of widows in eighteenth century America in The Widow's War, she tackles the subject of indentured servants in Bound.
In many ways the lives of indentured servants were even worse than those of slaves. Slave owners had made an investment in their slaves, and it was good business sense to see that they were fed and clothed properly. Since indentured servants were only going to be around for a prescribed length of time, it wasn't unusual for those who owned their indenture papers to spend as little on them as possible. All too many indentured servants found themselves worked hard and fed very little.
To see this practice through the eyes of a young girl is illuminating. Many a time I wanted to shake some sense into Alice as she made one wrong decision after another, but I had to make myself stop and realize that she was very young and had no reason at all to trust anyone. The only person she knew she could rely on was herself. The Widow Berry had years of bad lessons to overcome with Alice, and as the pages turned in Bound, I really wanted to see how it would all turn out.
If you like well-written stories set in colonial New England that have strong characters, excellent period detail and a smoothly plotted story line, give Sally Gunning a try!
This is actually the second book in the 2-book series. The first being "The Widow's War." Not knowing that, I read "Bound" first. I then read TWW. I liked it that way. Not knowing the "story behind the story" or the history of the other characters, I was more in Alice's (the main character of "Bound")position, and I think had I known the story of Widow Berry and Freeman, "Bound" would've been more predictable.
I liked "Bound" despite not really liking Alice. I felt sorry for her, and given the mostly unhappy life she had lead and her youth, I could understand some of the choices she made. However, I just got frustrated with her for not waking up and coming to accept the love and acceptance she had found. I ended up not really liking her very much, although she is not an entirely unlikeable character. She redeemed herself in the end.
All in all, a well-written book which I enjoyed reading.
I liked "Bound" despite not really liking Alice. I felt sorry for her, and given the mostly unhappy life she had lead and her youth, I could understand some of the choices she made. However, I just got frustrated with her for not waking up and coming to accept the love and acceptance she had found. I ended up not really liking her very much, although she is not an entirely unlikeable character. She redeemed herself in the end.
All in all, a well-written book which I enjoyed reading.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and did read it in about three sittings over a weekend. Great fictional entertainment. I found no fault with the characters, plot, or the room left at the last third of the book for the reader's interpretation of how emotion played out the final choices.
In fact that is what I believed was the saving grace of this story, the questions it did raise toward the conclusion-could Alice understand, identify, or acknowledge what 'love' is (due to her trauma and suffering)? When things 'changed' among the three at the end-who had the most strength in setting the path straight again? Does good EVER triumph over evil? Was the courtroom decision fair in both cases? What really happened to the baby, and was it Alice's fault?
The book also came together in a black and white manner of writing, it was so matter of fact, without exceptional drama or explanation of how a young girl could witness such horrors and continue on in life. It just-was. How people survived, how hunger and poverty paved the road of people's lives. How love, lust, and decisions plotted individual courses.
Great book. I did not read the first 'Widow's War' that apparently was written, as I did not even know about it until reading some of these reviews.
In fact that is what I believed was the saving grace of this story, the questions it did raise toward the conclusion-could Alice understand, identify, or acknowledge what 'love' is (due to her trauma and suffering)? When things 'changed' among the three at the end-who had the most strength in setting the path straight again? Does good EVER triumph over evil? Was the courtroom decision fair in both cases? What really happened to the baby, and was it Alice's fault?
The book also came together in a black and white manner of writing, it was so matter of fact, without exceptional drama or explanation of how a young girl could witness such horrors and continue on in life. It just-was. How people survived, how hunger and poverty paved the road of people's lives. How love, lust, and decisions plotted individual courses.
Great book. I did not read the first 'Widow's War' that apparently was written, as I did not even know about it until reading some of these reviews.
Alice Cole, 15, travels with her family to the U.S. En route, her mother and brothers die. When she and her despondent father arrive, they have too little money for both fares and Alice becomes an indentured worker. Fortunately, she is "sold" to a kind, gentle man who is more like a friend or replacement father than a master. However, her life changes for the worse when the man's daughter marries and Alice is given to the daughter and her husband. He is a despicable and cruel individual who rapes her night after night. When his wife attacks her, Alice runs away to begin a new life and her story unfolds from this point. Young and inexperienced in so many ways, Alice finds herself facing problems she doesn't understand. Somehow she must learn to cope with what is happening to her. Unfortunately, she learns the "hard" way when she is accused of murdering her stillborn child and tried for murder.
The author chose to write about white slavery when she read the transcript of a trial much like the one she depicts in this novel. Information from Hannah Nutup's trial is remarkably similar to the trial proceedings that Alice endured. The author notes that indentured white workers were the first "slaves" in our country. Furthermore, it is estimated that 150-250 arrived each year during the mid 1800s. In fact, the first indentured servants walked off the Mayflower. According to those who track such occurrences, indenture continues today throughout the world - even in the United States. This enlightening tale gives the reader much to ponder as it unveils what life as an indentured servant was often like.
The author chose to write about white slavery when she read the transcript of a trial much like the one she depicts in this novel. Information from Hannah Nutup's trial is remarkably similar to the trial proceedings that Alice endured. The author notes that indentured white workers were the first "slaves" in our country. Furthermore, it is estimated that 150-250 arrived each year during the mid 1800s. In fact, the first indentured servants walked off the Mayflower. According to those who track such occurrences, indenture continues today throughout the world - even in the United States. This enlightening tale gives the reader much to ponder as it unveils what life as an indentured servant was often like.
I enjoyed this book a lot but it wasn't quite as good as The Widow's War.
This is a sequel to The Widow's War and held my interest, but I wasn't nearly as impressed with it as
I was The Widow's War. Still, definitely worth the read.
I was The Widow's War. Still, definitely worth the read.
