I was so honored to read this book for endorsement in its early stages. Besides the fact that Lori is a long-time friend and amazing author, I was excited because it would be the first book of hers that I’d read since endorsing her debut, Burning Sky, back in 2013. That one won the Christy Award—one of the highest awards in the Christian fiction industry. I can tell you that I enjoyed Many Sparrows even more!
Book Description
Either she and her children would emerge from that wilderness together, or none of them would…
In 1774, the Ohio-Kentucky frontier pulses with rising tension and brutal conflicts as Colonists push westward and encroach upon Native American territories. The young Inglesby family is making the perilous journey west when an accident sends Philip back to Redstone Fort for help, forcing him to leave his pregnant wife Clare and their four-year old son Jacob on a remote mountain trail.
When Philip does not return and Jacob disappears from the wagon under the cover of darkness, Clare awakens the next morning to find herself utterly alone, in labor and wondering how she can to recover her son…especially when her second child is moments away from being born.
Clare will face the greatest fight of her life, as she struggles to reclaim her son from the Shawnee Indians now holding him captive. But with the battle lines sharply drawn, Jacob’s life might not be the only one at stake. When frontiersman Jeremiah Ring comes to her aid, can the stranger convince Clare that recovering her son will require the very thing her anguished heart is unwilling to do—be still, wait and let God fight this battle for them?
My Review
😃😃😃😃😃 5 Smiles
Oh my! I honestly don’t even know where to begin to express all that I LOVED about this story. Prairie romance and historicals aren’t my usual read, but when skilled writers (like Lori Benton and Laura Frantz—my favorites) treat the American Indian struggle with grace and tenderness—how can we not ache, hope, cry, shout, and struggle right along with the historical characters we meet on the page?
When I grow up, I want to write like Lori Benton 😃. Many Sparrows is a heart-searching story where love trumps hate, and hard-won forgiveness leads to soaring hope. Lori vividly portrays characters wrestling with a God they can’t explain but desperately need to trust. Held captive to the end by the characters’ inescapable conflicts, I shouted for joy when I read the masterful ending. Truly, this book is history made personal and believable.
