Thank you Daphne of Free at 50 for this review
Title: The Tidewater Bride
Author: Laura Frantz
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
Plot: Selah Hopewell is young by today’s standards but surprisingly unwed in 17th century Jamestowne, a couple decades after the “starving time” when the colonists are building a thriving community. This book focuses on the stage in Selah’slife when she is questionably alone, helping her family’s business, and active in the community, supporting the brides brought in from England to increase the population of the Tidewater region through marriage and family. It is the story of both her and a widower landowner, loosely based on Pocahontas’ husband John Rolfe.
Rating: 4.5 – The Tidewater Bride explains 17th century Virginia well.
Opinion: Romance books are not my go-to read. However, this is the second book by Laura Frantz I’ve read and more will be on my list! After 30 years working for others, I left corporate life to be a blogger. And moved. We left Michigan and came to Williamsburg Virginia because we love history. I can feel it all around me every day and Tidewater Bride was a book I had to read. Selah’s story, as the daughter of one of Jamestowne’sinitial entrepreneurs/colonists, weaves romance with history. The Hopewell family takes in a “bride,” and we watch the process of how the brides were courted and wed in 17th century Virginia. It spans several seasons, examining the relationship with “the naturals” including the powerful chief, and exposes family life and the political climate as well as the physical one in the Tidewater.
You can feel the humidity, hear the sounds along the James River, and experience the history by reading this book. I highly recommend it, especially if you are visiting our area- bring it with you as your vacation read!
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