"The opening of Fated sets the scene quite well and interweaves backstory with the action as Valerie Baldwin, a compassionate healer and a very well-drawn character, contemplates her life as an unwed woman in a 1690s religious New World colony where witchcraft is taken as reality, and punishment is swift and brutal. The author, Janette Harjo, uses a style that befits the era and place of the story.
When Valerie befriends a young Indian man and his tribe, suspicion grows in the fanatically religious community of her motives to mix with these heathens. Possibly too naive for the time and the place, Valerie courageously carries on, knowing in her heart that she does good work for the colony's children.
To deepen the conflict, Alecksander Stone, a renowned witch hunter, has been called upon to target Valerie as a witch. But these two young people from opposite sides of religious fanaticism, find themselves drawn to each other. In their strained but growing relationship, Alecksander's stern demeanor begins to crack, and Valerie's mistrust of his motives is curbed by the passion she feels for him. In an intuitive moment, where Valerie contemplates the horrible fate of those denounced as witches: rock crushing, drowning, burning at the stake, she asks herself "Why do I have this strong desire?"
Can two people from such different religious views find common ground and come together?
If you like a well done romance, you're sure to enjoy Fated.
I think Janette Harpo will have a long and successful career as a writer"
Romance through the mists of time and Love through the dimensions of reality
No comments:
Post a Comment