Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, especially
when it includes stories of our American Indians. Author Lori Benton’s book, “The Woods Edge,”
hooked me on the very first page. Although a new author to me, apparently she is a
well-known writer of Christian historical fiction. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but
she is now on my favorite authors list because her storytelling is beyond
exceptional – the characters finely woven together in the mist of well-researched
historical events of the early New York
frontier, home to the Oneida
The story begins as the white flag of surrender is raised
over Fort William Henry, finally ending the six-day siege by the French
soldiers. During the fighting, noise, and confusion, the
wife of Major Reginald Aubrey of His Majesty’s Royal Army, suffered 20 hours before
giving birth to a son, who died within a few minutes of his birth. Being completely exhausted by the painful
labor, the Major’s wife Heledd fell into a deep sleep, not even looking at her baby and not knowing that he had died. Fearing that, upon being told of the baby’s
death, Heledd’s mind would not bear the trauma and that she would no longer
have the will to go on. Pacing in the
hallway, holding his dead son, Major Aubrey glanced into another room where a
young Oneida Indian mother lay asleep on a pallet, having herself just given
birth to twin boys, one with fair skin and one dark. Half out of his mind with worry and grief,
and while the Indian mother Good Voice slept, the Major made a desperate
decision to switch his dead son for the living fair-skinned baby. Thus begins the story of lies, deceit,
regret, grief, heartbreak, broken lives, love, and forgiveness.
I was blown away by the spirituality in this story,
experiencing the faith journey of each character as an individual. I felt as though I was actually witnessing
salvation come to real people. One
statement in particular burned in my mind, when the second twin Two Hawks said
about his salvation, that the Gospel covered him with the red blanket of
Christ's goodness. I was in tears at
this point! Now, I can hardly wait for
the sequel, which will be released in 2016 called, “A Flight of Arrows.”
I received The Wood's Edge from Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange
for my unbiased review.
