by Sandy Kirby Quandt
Jocelyn Green takes her cast of interesting characters on a journey of intrigue, treachery, secrets, hardship, and love in her latest book, Mark of the King. The story begins in Paris and swiftly moves to the swampland of Louisiana in the early 1720s.
Although there are parts in the book that were hauntingly disturbing for me to read, I believe Mark of the King is expertly written. The historical details vividly bring this period of time in Louisiana to life. You can almost feel the sticky sweat of the humid climate, the bite of the mosquitoes, and the mud sucking the shoes off your feet as you walk the streets of New Orleans. The characters are individuals you love right along with those you detest. They are complex with no simple answers to the question, Why?
As a midwife, Julianne has been convicted of the murder of one of her patients, branded with the fleur-de-lis; mark of the king, and sentenced to life in prison. Upon hearing the Company of the Indies is scouring prisons for convicts to colonize Louisiana, Julianne seeks a way to be one of those sent to America in the hopes of finding her younger brother Benjamin, a soldier in the king’s army.
What she isn’t told are the terms of the trip … forced marriage to a fellow convict for the purpose of populating the untamed, unwelcoming colony.
French officer Marc-Paul Girard has information about Benjamin, but is what he tells Julianne the whole story?
At a time when the English and French fought against each other, and pitted Native Americans against one another for their own benefit, not everything nor everyone is what they seem, and loyalties are not what they appear.
If you are a fan of historical fiction, my recommendation is this … get your hands on Mark of the King and be transported to the New Orleans of the early 1720s.
Have you read this book? If so, what was your impression of it?
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I wish you well.
Sandy
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Bethany House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for a fair and honest review, which is exactly what I gave.
One of my posts is scheduled to appear on Inspire a Fire February 7, 2017. Please stop by.
Sandy Kirby Quandt 