Anyone interested in the history of Florida will enjoy this book. The story, however, seemed to lack something. I kept waiting for more to happen. It's an easy read, though and has interesting aspects to it.

The sad truth was that the man I held most dear in life, the one I'd always counted on, who gave me the greatest sense of security, had now taken that security away. By example, my own father had taught me a most valuable lesson: If you allowed your heart to love and trust someone fully and freely, the odds were that your heart would be shattered into a thousand tiny pieces, and there were no directions for putting it back together again.

The Stewart family set their roots Florida’s Ocklawaha River. Hap Stewart brought his young family to the wilds of Florida in the late 1800's and proclaimed this area the Corner of Glory Land. With his two sons and twin daughters, they started their new life. The narration is seen thru his daughter Eve who in the beginning saw snakes and danger but grew to see opportunity. Their life in this part of Florida was dangerous and slow. Each of her siblings grew into their own skin and opportunities.

The plot was driven by Eve's sister Ivy as she becomes involved with medicine with the black neighbor's family where she learns and experiences how to make medicine and tend to the communities ills. Ivy is a free spirit and when she is caught by Eve in a compromising relationship, Eve fears the worst.

The trials with this family becomes intensified when Eve's father is involved in a terrible accident. The changes to her family becomes unbearable that she takes a job opportunity as a journalist in Jacksonville, Florida where she meets her fiancé who is the business of developing land. The two go back to Ocklawaha River for her family to meet her fiancé. All is well until Ivy's secret is revealed. With Ivy on the run and Eve's is determination to save her with the help of the local trapper Max Harjo, what she finds out in her trek is who really needs saving.

I am always drawn to read when the heroine is a mass of contradictions. Eve is tough but she has a big heart. She has a plan but is also impulsive. Another words, she is not perfect but she is teachable. Being teachable, there are lessons to be learned in difficult situations and things are never what they seem. It behooves me that the untouched beauty of Florida is represented in these characters and I was totally captivated by it.

A Special Thank You to Kensington Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Late 1800s, living close to the swampy Ocklawaha River in Florida, young Eve Stewart and her twin, Ivy, cannot help but think that there is more to life than this. As Ivy takes an interest in a local black woman and her remedies, Eve feels there is something Ivy is not telling her, leading both young women into a journey to follow their passions.

I fell in love with this book. I loved the descriptions of Florida before the turn of the 20th Century. The characters came alive. I loved the STRONG female characters who stood up for their convictions and for their heart. I can't wait to read the rest of the stories and books that the author has planned! BRAVO to the author for a great book!

I eagerly anticipated reading this book as it sounded so interesting.

Unfortunately it was not rounded enough and lacked depth. Whilst the story itself had so many interesting factors - the river economy, modernisation, race and discrimination, herbal medicine - none of these were explored in sufficient depth.

The characterisation would have benefitted from more colour - they felt rather two-dimensional - but there was enough variety to keep my interest afloat.

When compared to the stunning The Indigo Girl, which is also a historic novel, unfortunately this book doesn’t hit the spot.

A generous 3* - interesting to learn about the history but falls a little flat for me.

2.5 Stars

The first records of Florida history were from Juan Ponce de León in 1513. Since then, many explored it over the years, the French and Spanish had settlements there, as well as Native Americans who migrated there, and free blacks and fugitive slaves made their home there. It wasn’t until 1821 that it became a territory of the United States, and more than two more decades would pass before Florida was admitted as the 27th US State on March 3rd of 1845, on the last day of John Tyler’s presidency.

By then, almost half the state’s population were slaves working the large cotton and sugar plantations located between the Suwannee and Apalachicola rivers in the north central part of Florida, a good portion of those slaves and their owners had originally been from the coastal areas of the Carolinas and Georgia.

By the 1850’s the federal government began “convincing” those residing on Seminole land to move. Wars followed. Some surrendered and were sent elsewhere, but some stayed and lived in the Everglades. By 1861, on the brink of the Civil War, Florida had the lowest population, over 140,000 people, with 44% of the population of the state slaves, and 1,000 “free people of color.”

It’s during this era that twin sisters, Eve and Ivy, their mother, and father move to this new, relatively unsettled part of the country, along a river. They’re living their father’s dream of a comfortable life, a nice, comfortable home; his days spent working on a steamboat. Their fears of this being the paradise he described, when he first told them of the move, have slowly faded away. Eve, especially, is drawn to the beauty of the nature they now find themselves in, although this nature must be watched carefully, still. Ivy is learning about the medicine from a local black woman who lives nearby, and Eve is dreaming to be recognized as the writer she hopes to be. They are both young women, but not so young to feel these things will not soon be within their grasp.

I have no doubt that there are those who will love this book, but it really fell flat for me.


Pub Date: 19 Dec 2017

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Kensington Press / Lyrical Books

In 1875, Florida was a wild, untamed land full of snakes, biting insects, unrelenting heat and unimaginable beauty. When Eve Stewart’s father, Hap, moves Eve, her siblings and their mother there to live alongside a river, the whole family is dubious about his claims of finding paradise. But Hap is true to his word, finding work aboard a steamboat and building his family a large, comfortable home. As time passes, Eve dreams of becoming an author and seeing the world beyond the banks of the Ocklawaha River. Her sister Ivy has become fascinated with herbal medicine under the guidance of a local black woman, learning things many people are uncomfortable. When Ivy disappears, Eve sets out to find her, with the help of tracker Max Harjo.
I have a love hate relationship with Florida. I love the backwoods and the yet to be developed areas, but hate the crowds and tacky tourist destinations. DeVos paints a vivid picture of Florida before it was spoiled by snow birds and theme parks, so much so that Florida itself is a strong central character in this delicious historical