Between Two Shores

Title: Between Two Shores

Author: Jocelyn Green

Series: Stand-Alone

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publishing Date: Feb 5, 2019

About the Book:

The daughter of a Mohawk mother and French father in 1759 Montreal, Catherine Duval finds it is easier to remain neutral in a world that is tearing itself apart. Content to trade with both the French and the British, Catherine is pulled into the fray against her wishes when her British ex-
fiance, Samuel Crane, is taken prisoner by her father. Samuel asks her to help him escape, claiming he has information that could help end the war.

Peace appeals to Catherine, but helping the man who broke her heart does not. She delays . . . until attempts on Samuel’s life convince her he’s in mortal danger. Against her better judgment she helps him flee by river, using knowledge of the landscape to creep ever closer to freedom. Their time together rekindles feelings she thought long buried, and danger seems to hound their every mile. She’s risked becoming a traitor by choosing a side, but will the decision cost her even more than she anticipated?

My Review:

I feel like I’ve read a lot of books lately that have left me in the book fog. Jocelyn has masterfully integrated twists and turns that leave the readers speechless in the most unexpected of times. Her writing is impeccable despite leaving me a puddle of muddled emotions.

Catherine’s character was developed incredibly. Half Mohawk and half French, she finds herself torn between two worlds. As a young girl following the death of her mother, she decides to leave her siblings and the life she’s always known to live with her father. When she was younger her father lived with his family among the Mohawks, but after an accident that left him injured he left and sought relief in a bottle. Feeling a conviction to help care for her father, Catherine moves in with him. It broke my heart to see how she was treated by him growing up, and how no matter how terribly he treated her–she still hoped for his love and approval. No matter where she went she felt as if she didn’t belong. To the Mohawks she was too French, and to the French she was too Mohawk. Her heart wanted to please all but it was an impossible feat.

Loss through violence is something almost all of the characters shared through personal experience. Both indentured servant’s of Catherine’s father (Samuel and Thankful) watched their families brutally murdered and scalped before their eyes as young children. Years later the traumatic memories continued to haunt them. Catherine was aware that both sides in the war were responsible for horrible crimes but it was as if she carried the guilt for both sides of her heritage. She desperately wanted peace so that the violence would come to a hopeful end.

There are a few things that I would love to talk about but won’t because they would absolutely spoil you, but just know that this book managed some pretty big twists and turns I didn’t see coming at all. I was stuck in the book fog for the larger part of the end of this book! Despite having other things to do I refused to close the book until I had made it to the end. I absolutely highly recommend this one!

*I received a copy of this book from the author. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.

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