Summary: Even before the Revolutionary War begins, Jemimah Emerson finds herself struggling with her own rebellion inside of her New Jersey home. Jem’s parents, devout and proud Patriots, have assigned her to be tutored by John Reid, a Tory with strong ties to his home in England. She can’t quite come to grasp the fact that her parents can be such good friends with a man that is trying to destroy everything they stand for. However, she soon has to contribute in the war effort in any way she possibly can. When she finds out something she was never supposed to know about John Reid, her actions literally put the fate of his life in her hands.
Review: I’ve always been in love with books that deal with historical fiction, especially if they concern the Revolutionary War. I don’t know what it is about it, but that time period absolutely enthralls me. Needless to say, I fell in love with the plot, the characters, basically everything about the story. Jemimah is a total firecracker; anything that she wants to do, she will do it, no matter what anyone tells her. I think it makes her very relatable to girls nowadays, who act (usually) with their own mind and listen to what their hearts tell them to do. I like that Ann Rinaldi made her very complex, and she struggles with her feelings toward John Reid throughout the whole story. There are times in there where he is the thing in the world that she hates most, and then other times he is the only person she wants to be around. John Reid was a very well written character, too. He’s basically the stereotyped Englishman of that time period; very polite, extremely proper, strict. However, you see him start to ease off as the story goes, which made him much more likable to me. John Reid becomes a lot gentler with his manners, especially toward Jem. The only character I really hated was Jem’s sister, Rebeckah, who is a Tory that lives in Philadelphia. You know the popular, really, REALLY annoying girl at school that has to get her own way in everything? Yep, that’s Rebeckah. First of all, she hadn’t lived in her parents house since she married, and the second she comes back to visit, she expects everything to suddenly revolve around her. There was even a point in the book where she brought her baby to the house with her where John Reid was sick, and she told Jem to go and kick him out. She was the only aspect of the novel that got on my nerves. Other than that, the plot is an extremely charming love story, and one of my favorite all time reads. I especially liked the part where the Hessians attacked, and Jem and her family’s servant Lucy were trapped in the upstairs room of their house for a few days. I loved seeing the two characters connect with each other, and interact in a new way. Overall, the book is around 230 pages; a pretty light read. This is a good book if you are looking for a leisurely read to just breeze through. I really think that everyone would enjoy this book, whether they are a fan of historical fiction or not.
March 22nd, 2011 - 6:36 pm
I really enjoyed reading this, I love reading. But I read a lot of different genres so I liked yours because I can tell if I should read about that or read that in particular.
-Ayla