A sweeping tale of pain, suffering, and the faith that gives hope despite it all. Many Sparrows by Lori Benton is beautiful, lyrical, and poignant. It combines a story that envelopes us with hard truths that can bring us closer to the God who holds all in his hand.

This story is rich in history. And when I say rich, I mean RICH. Benton’s prose transports you to a time and place wholly new, yet described so well it takes little work to find yourself transfixed by the era. Details of the western expansion and the resulting conflicts with Native Americans come to life – with the beautiful result of stirring authentic compassion for both sides. Like Benton’s hero Jeremiah, readers are taken on a journey that finds them pulled between two worlds and two cultures – each understood and logical on their own but, once combined, at odds with each other.

Benton’s plot, rather than setting atop the setting, weaves itself seamlessly through its historical time period, lending authenticity to each point and turn introduced. The plot never seems forced and it moves well. I didn’t find any parts to be lagging and none felt superfluous. This is a story that finds that delicate balance between the constant action of plot-driven works and the lilting prose of sagas that rely overly on personal drama.

While there are external conflicts aplenty, there are just as many believable internal conflicts. The heroine’s grief and loss is not something easily solved by pat answers delayed only by plot twists. Instead, this is a story of the heart. It’s a story of grief pointing us all toward the only One who can heal and complete us.

I’m a lover of Christian fiction because of books like these – books that make me want to highlight and underline and otherwise mark up the truths that authors have written throughout the pages. Jesus told stories to point out truths. Story can be powerful in that way. And this story embraces that possibility. Be prepared to struggle with the heroine as she discovers what it means to (despite legitimate pain) wait on the Author of all. Faith is a struggle…and this novel wholly embraces that truth.

Find Many Sparrows at your favorite bookseller (or library). It’s completely worth getting.

Wow! What a story! This is one historical novel that is hard to put down. Many Sparrows is the first book that I've read by this author and now I'm definitely hooked on her. I love the name of the book and why Jacob was named Many Sparrows. The strength Clara had during this ordeal was amazing but was glad to see her finally come to grips with God's will not hers. Highly recommended!

Ms. Benton weaves characters in and around the time period creating a seamless beautiful blanket that wraps around you like an old friend.
This really isn't a story, it is an experience of your heart, mind, and soul. Seeing sorrow turn to joy, fear turn to trust, hate turn to love, and most importantly forgiveness turn to hope.

Many Sparrows is the story of the power of a Mother’s love, strength, compassion, forgiveness and understanding. It is powerful and the emotions pour off of the page. Lori has a great way of dragging you into the story and you feel as if you are side by side with Clare on this journey.

The journey focuses on the Inglesby family as Philip (who has never been a man satisfied with his lot in life) forces the young family and his pregnant wife to travel across the dangerous frontier. When he is murdered, Clare is alone in the wilderness with her young son and begins to go in to labour. As her labour begins, Clare does not want to frighten her son and moves further off. It is in these moments, that her young son is kidnapped and claimed by the Shawnee’s as their own.

Jeremiah enters into her life and finds so much of himself in her. He helps her through her labour and together they set off to find her young son. Jeremiah is more than just her guide, he becomes a friend and teacher. Possibly even something more?

The novel focuses on Clare’s ultimate goal to reunite her family and move forward into the future. We watch as she struggles with her faith, her courage and as she learns compassion and forgiveness for the people who have taken away the most precious gift she has.

Many Sparrows is an amazing novel from start to finish and I could not put this one down!

Many sparrows

Clare is a determined mother, her son was taken and adopted by the Indians, with a newborn and Jeremiah's help she is on the trail to get her son. This is set in the late 1700's when the Indians and whites very rarely got along. This was a long book but one that was hard to put down, very well written book. I could feel the characters, visualize the scenes. This is my first book by Lori Benton and I definitely plan to read more. I really love reading history books and she does an excellent job of writing one. I received an advanced copy of the book from the publisher thru net gallery.

Have you ever read a book that just totally grabbed a hold of your heart and didn’t let go? That is what happened to be. When I read the first few chapters, and saw Clare’s struggles and pains as a mother, I became weepy. I just couldn’t imagine going through what she went through. Ms. Benton penned the story beautifully, and I knew this was just the beginning for my love for this book.

The historical aspect of it? Excellent. Ms. Benton knows what she is talking about. More importantly was her message. It reminds me of the song by Hillary Scott – Still. We just need to be still and let God help us, which is very hard to do. I can imagine the wrestling match that Clare must of had internally about this. Just jump at the chance to get her son, or wait and rely on God to take care of it. Such a predicament for a mother, but not to worry. Lori Benton once again took care of this in a way that just spoke to my heart.

I’m sorry to say that I had not read a book by Lori Benton until now, but I can promise you it will not be the last. I cannot wait to see what else she has in store for me as a reader! Check out this book today! I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What an epic story! I was completely immersed in the time period and setting with Clare as she fights for her son. It's definitely a heartbreaking journey and the process of change she goes through is profound. Jeremiah's support and patience is a Godsend to her, although she doesn't always see him that way when he doesn't act as swiftly as she'd like. The struggles and experiences portrayed seem unreal, but I know that they are based on history and the realities that settlers and natives faced. I appreciate the meticulous research of the author and I feel like it really made the story come to life. The powerful themes of waiting on God and trusting that He will work all things for our good are strongly felt in the long journey Clare and her family are on. Highly recommend!!!

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

My first book by Lori Benton and I’ll certainly be coming back for more.

Reading how a strong and determined Clare clings on to her faith and allows her trails to lead her closer to God fills is inspiring. Jeremiah, putting aside his own heart ache, reaches out to her and becomes a pillar of support. In this, he too shows how faith can make you move out of yourself.

I loved the descriptions of the settings, the characters and the brilliant story which brings home the importance of hope and faith.

The book left me enthralled and inspired.

I find myself at a loss for words when I have to review one of Lori Benton’s books. How do you do justice to a story that is at once exquisitely heartrending and powerfully inspiring in a few brief paragraphs? Impossible. And yet here I am, trying to do just that. It will probably require a number of repetitions of the word ‘exquisite’, so I apologise for that in advance, but it is the word that repeatedly comes to mind. Exquisite writing, exquisite pain, and yet exquisite beauty in and through that pain.

Clare’s story is every mother’s nightmare. Stranded in the middle of nowhere and trying to spare her young son the distress of seeing his mother in labour, she takes herself a short distance away while he sleeps, returning later to discover him gone. When Jeremiah Ring agrees to help her find her son, no physical hardship can turn her from her purpose, but when they find him, the emotional hardship she must endure is surely more than should be borne by any mother. Why should she have to live among these people who stole her child? To respect their way of life and traditions, or Rain Crow, the Shawnee woman who now claims Jacob as her adopted son? And for how long? And yet, to steal Jacob back would be an almost certain death sentence.

Jeremiah Ring had no idea how close Clare’s struggle would hit to home when he agreed to help her find her son. Himself an adopted brother of the Shawnee warrior Falling Hawk, he shares the grief that is driving his Native American brothers and sisters, but as a believer, he also knows that taking revenge on the colonists and stealing children isn’t going to satisfy that grief. As he finds himself caught between two women and two worlds, he holds to the promise that not a sparrow falls to the ground without God seeing, and yet he acknowledges that it doesn’t promise sparrows will never fall. “It comes down to this: crying out to the Lord and clinging to His promise that He [is] vigilant enough, present enough, loving enough, and good enough to deal with it all.”

This is a powerful and moving story of just what it means to be still and wait upon the Lord; to trust Him when His ways are beyond human understanding. It’s the kind of story that knits the truth into your very marrow—that our God is a God who has His eye on every sparrow, and that "He's working all the while, before and behind and beside us", even when we don't see it.

“Many Sparrows” by Lori Benton was sort of a companion novel to Ms. Benton’s “The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn”. Two of the characters in this new book are present in the new one.

Claire Inglesby is persuaded by her husband Philip to leave their farm in the Virginia Colony which in 1774 was on the Western Frontier of the America. Claire, heavily pregnant with her second child, is also mothering her first, Jacob. Philip has no clue as how to live in the wilderness and puts his family in danger. The travelers come to a stop when the wagon wheel breaks. Philip decides to leave his wife and child to go for help back the way they came. Between the anxiety of being left alone on the trail and the rigors of the trip, Claire goes into labor. She moves away from the camp sight, leaving Jacob asleep near the wagon.

Jeremiah Ring is a scout and adopted son of the Shawnee, travelling on a mission to the people’s town. He finds the body of Philip back on the trail not too far from the wagon. He has been killed and scalped by renegade Shawnee. He comes across Claire and aids her in birthing her child. When they go to wake up Jacob, they find him missing. Clues show that he was taken by Indians. Claire is determined to find her son, no matter the cost and convinces Jeremiah to take her with him as he travels to the Shawnee camp. They find him, but getting him back is no small task.

This narrative shows just how primitive the “western” frontier is at this time in history. England still rules the colonies and there is unrest among the native tribes at the invasion of the white men. I found this book not only to be highly entertaining, but historically informative. Ms. Benton has written another book that is impossible to put down until the end. I hope that there will be another novel picking up where this one left off. I’d love to see what happened.

Lori Benton's vivid storytelling brings history to life in a way that fills every sense and emotion. Many Sparrows is a powerful soul-stirring story! The author completely engages readers by embracing the conflicted atmosphere of this period at an intimate level and unfolding the tale from different angles and perspectives.

Clare Inglesby's plight downright ripped my mama-heart out but OH, how I admire her fierce determination. Clare's character is one who readers will easily relate to and become invested in!

Jeremiah Ring is a larger than life, enigmatic figure from the moment he appears on the page. Jeremiah is a protective and loyal man of faith and his character is loaded with many layers.

Many Sparrows is packed to the brim with delightful secondary characters, a solid faith message, and fascinating historical aspects of colonial life. Themes of perseverance, forgiveness, adoption, and hope are woven through this riveting storyline.

I requested the opportunity to read this book through the publisher and Litfuse.
The opinions expressed are my own.

Many Sparrows by Lori Benton is a fabulous Christian historical adventure set in 1774 America.
Intertwining the lives of the Native Americans with the white Americans, enables the reader to become acquainted with the Native American way of life. They bind together, are fiercely loyal and generous. "Each family sharing what they didn't need rather than hoarding it."
Having been introduced to Jesus, the Native Americans try to adopt His teachings. They have an alternative way of life whilst embracing Christian values.
There is conflict within the novel which seems to me, to be stirred up by the white Americans who wish to make war and not peace with the Native Americans.
Names are important. Native American names reveal the character of a person. A name change is significant as it mirrors a change in character.
The theme of trust runs throughout. People have to choose who they can trust. God can always be trusted. "She had curled up her soul in fear." Trusting God brings freedom because we know He is ultimately in control. When life seems bleak, we have to trust that God is good and that He will work all things together for good for those who love Him.
Family is important. A mother's love runs deep and there is nothing she will not do to protect her offspring.
There is the theme of forgiveness. We must forgive even when the perpetrator of the perceived wrong doing is unrepentant. Forgiveness is as much for our well being as for theirs. Our burdens are released when we forgive.
A search to belong is a major theme. Home is not necessarily found in a location but with family.
I really enjoyed Many Sparrows. It gave me an appreciation for the Native American way of life and how they suffered at the hands of the army. I was educated whilst enjoying a cracking tale.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.