Somewhere to Dream (The MacDonnells #3) by Genevieve GrahamPublished: November 5, 2013Publisher: BerkleyPages: 336Received: for honest reviewBuy Now: AmazonFrom Genevieve Graham, author of Sound of the Heart, comes the tale of two strangers living with the Cherokee—one with a warrior’s heart; the other with deadly dreams…
The Cherokee call her Shadow Girl. A white woman adopted by Indians, Adelaide is haunted by the dark dreams she hides—of her murdered family, of the men she fears, and most of all, of the ones that foretell the future. After her visions cause her to make a terrible mistake, she renounces her power and buries her dreams deep in her soul.
Until Jesse Black is captured by the tribe. His life is spared because the Cherokee believe his warrior spirit belongs to their fallen brother. Though he hates all Indians, Adelaide illuminates their way of life for him, just as he shines light into her shadowed heart. But when her dreams return, Jesse must help her face them…or die trying…
I was so happy to get back to the beautiful writing style of Genevieve Graham. When I read Sound of the Heart, I was drawn in by her descriptive and emotional historical settings. I was not let down with Somewhere to Dream.
From the beginning of this story, I adored Adelaide's character (though I have not read Under the Same Sky yet). She is a quiet mouse of a woman, the shadow girl they all call her. So fearful, yet so comfortable living among the Cherokee. Her life was uprooted, yet she found solace among these feared people. They help her to understand herself more than her own people would have.
Adelaide is fearful of her future, her hand has been promised to a Cherokee man whom she cares for, but is unready for the commitment. When her future husband is killed in battle she is both saddened and relieved. She wasn't ready for marriage, she hasn't let go of her haunting past yet.
But when Jesse Black appears as a captive one day, she is both curious and fearful. Curious because he has been in her dreams and fearful because she generally fears the white man (her own people). But Jesse is different, he holds a lot of anger. She is drawn to helping him and teaching him the ways of the Cherokee. Slowly, they form a friendship and begin to fall in love. I loved how patient he was with her and how she brought out the best of him.
They each have issues they need to deal with - she her fear of the white man and he his anger towards the Indians and his fear of becoming just like his violent father. Together they learn to accept their pasts, learn to love and heal their wounds. Their story was wonderful, but the part that I find the most intriguing was learning about the Cherokee, their culture and their language. I felt that watching Jesse accept their ways and realize they helped him figure out how to heal and who he wanted to be was an incredible journey.
I look forward to going back and reading the first in this series, to learn more about Adelaide and her sister Maggie.
About the author:
Genevieve Graham graduated from the
University of Toronto in 1986 with a Bachelor of Music in Performance
(playing the oboe). While on a ski vacation in Alberta, she met her
future husband in a chairlift lineup and subsequently moved to Calgary
to be with him. They have recently settled in a small, peaceful town in
Nova Scotia with their two beautiful daughters.
Writing became an essential part of Genevieve’s life a few years ago, when she began to write her debut novel, Under the Same Sky. The companion novel, Sound of the Heart, is available in stores now.
Writing became an essential part of Genevieve’s life a few years ago, when she began to write her debut novel, Under the Same Sky. The companion novel, Sound of the Heart, is available in stores now.
Keep for myself!!
ReplyDeleteThe writing style and main character sounds great to me
ReplyDelete