“A
family long divided, a mysterious trunk, and a desperate journey across the
ocean--all in the name of love. The epic saga of the McAlisters continues in
this riveting sequel to No Ocean Too
Wide.
In 1909, Grace McAlister set sail for
Canada as one of the thousands of British Home Children taken from their
families and their homeland. Though she is fortunate enough to be adopted by
wealthy parents, the secrets of her past are kept hidden for ten years until
someone from her long-buried childhood arrives on her doorstep. With this new
connection to her birth family, will she be brave enough to leave her sheltered
life in Toronto and uncover the truth?
After enduring hardship as an
indentured British Home Child, Garth McAlister left Canada to serve in World
War I. His sweetheart, Emma Lafferty, promised to wait for his return, but
after three long years apart, her letters suddenly stopped. When Garth arrives
home from the war to unexpected news, he is determined to return to Canada once
more on a daunting mission to find the two women he refuses to abandon--his
long-lost sister and his mysteriously missing sweetheart.”
Spiritual Content- Psalm 9:9-10 at the beginning & in the Readers Guide; Singing
a Hymn; Many Prayers; Many Talks about God, His plans, & faiths; ‘H’s are
capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God, Jesus, His will, faiths,
& forgiveness; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions
of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of churches, church going, sermons, &
reverends/pastors; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; A few mentions of
miracles; A couple mentions of sins;
*Note: A mention of a man blaming
his actions towards a young lady on the “demon drink” (alcohol).
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: two ‘blasted’s; A couple mentions of
curses (said, not written); Finding a murdered body & being accused as the murderer
(barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoiler* Grace sneaks out to meet Garth after her
parents talk about sending her to a relative to keep her away from Garth, her
biological brother *End of Spoiler*; Many mentions of wars, soldiers, fighting,
weapons, injuries, & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a murdered
body, how it happened, the killer, & arrests (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions
of illness, near deaths, & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a
possible robbery/burglary, thieves, & stealing; Mentions of threats &
blackmail; Mentions of bars, drinking, alcohol, drunks, gambling, &
carousing; Mentions of lies, lying, & deceiving; Mentions of prejudice
towards British Home Children; A few mentions of threatening to arrest someone on
the charges of kidnapping; A few mentions of a carriage accident, fires, & deaths;
A few mentions of contracts & being treated like a slave (and some running
away because of it); A few mentions of rumors; A few mentions of jealousy; A few
mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of coarse language; A couple mentions of
tobacco & cigarettes; A mention of bullies; A mention of a man threatening to
tan a hunting dog’s hide.
Sexual Content- a top-of-the-head
kiss, a hand/fingers kiss, a cheek kiss, a forehead kiss, an almost kiss, and
two semi-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, & Hand Holding (x2); Noticing,
Nearness, & Smelling (x2); Blushes; A man makes an offer for Emma to join
him at his hotel twice (she says she is not that kind of girl and he makes
remarks based on her past); Mentions of flirting & winks; A handful of
mentions of kisses & kissing; A few mentions of a man’s vile intentions
towards a young lady & pushing her onto a bed (she was able to escape
because he was drunk *Spoiler* Emma *End of Spoiler*; A few mentions of being
sweet on someone; A mention of a man’s reputation as a heartbreaker; A mention
of chaperones; Love, falling in love, being in love, & the emotions (x2);
*Note: A mention of that childbirth
can be dangerous for the mother and infant.
-Grace McAlister Hamilton, age 17-18
-Garth McAlister, age 24
-Emma Lafferty, age 21
P.O.V.
switches between them
Set in 1919
(Prologue in 1909)
368 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
{
Possibly not a suitable book for Adoptees – See Note Below }
I’ve been anticipating this
sequel since the minute after I finished reading “No Ocean Too Wide”—actually
it was probably more like ten seconds after finishing it. ;)
The first book felt so
emotionally heavy with the topic of a family being split apart, but there was
still the hopefulness on the plot because of the characters’ faiths. I really
enjoy Miss Carrie Turansky’s books because of her faith content shown and these
two were exactly the same.
Right before reading this sequel,
I reread “No Ocean Too Wide” and, yes, the topic still makes my heart
ache so much, but I was so excited to finally be able to read this book.
This sequel is set ten years after the first, and while I would have preferred
to see everything happy and the family reunited much quicker than ten years,
sometimes it takes a while for all of The Lord’s plan to fall in place.
A lot happens in this book and it
was a little strange to me to see the kids I had just got done reading about
all grown up and around my age. But, that’s my fault for reading them back to
back. This second book isn’t as heavy as the first book, but there’s still a
lot of things going on. Sometimes it felt a like a little too much, but
because it’s three characters and their lives are intersecting, it makes sense.
Once again, Miss Carrie had phenomenal
Spiritual Content in this book and I’m always so encouraged to see the faiths
her characters display. While I don’t think I would call this my favorite
series (duology?) by her, it definitely has a place close to my heart because
of the topic.
Note: Due to Grace’s adoptive parents
never love her unconditionally as their daughter, she thinks negatively towards
them and how “she could never be the daughter they wanted because she was
not their daughter by birth. She was an orphan, and they were ashamed of her
and intent on making her keep that secret….She might have been adopted into the
Hamilton family, but she didn’t belong to them. She was a McAlister, and
somewhere out there she had two sisters and a brother. They had a shared
heritage and memories of their life in England with their mum, who had truly
loved them, faults and all.”
While this is all true in Grace’s
case, I note this section for adoptees, as it could be triggering or harmful
for them to read Grace’s doubts and upset scenes (including one where her
adoptive mother slaps her after Grace speaks her thoughts about them waiting
her to hide her being adopted). It is a convenient plot point and probably
historically accurate in many ways of the fact her adoptive parents not loving
her fully, but I can also see where it could be triggering for adoptees reading
this book. Thankfully, things are better and do not end with resentment at the
end, but I still feel like I need to mention this part of the book’s plot.
See y’all on Friday with a new
review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this
author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free
from the Publisher (Multnomah) for this honest review.
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