Shadowbrook: A Novel of Love, War, and the Birth of America

Beverly Swerling is an excellent writer of historical fiction. The characters are very much fleshed out—with as accurate as she could describe the events of the time. A reader described her writing as reading “Shogun” by James Clavell and I couldn’t agree more. There is so much action in her books—-it never bogs down. From reading this book I ordered all her books and every one of them has not disappointed .It’s like eating an ice cream cone on a summer’s day— her books are that good.

I just loved this, couldn't put it down until the end. I, like other reviewers, learned more about this time in American history, the French and Indian Wars, than I ever did in our public shool systems (which really didn't teach us very much history at all). This book has it all, true love, honor, politics, treachery and intrigue, battles and heartbreak. Like other reviwers, most of the historical fiction I read is about England, Scotland and Wales and I had forgotten how fascinating all history is, even our own. Along with that, we had the tale of two men, Quent and Cormac who had the to wear the difficult roles of life between two different civilizations, the white man and the red. All in all an outstanding tale of America. I look forward to reading more of this author's work. Highly recommended.

This book has it all - history, politics, religion, love, family fueds and bonds, war... all described in come-alive detail. Beverly Swerling clearly did extensive research - I learned more from this book about the cultures of the Native American peoples who lived on the land where I was raised than I ever did in school, and more about the "birth of our nation" as well. Swerling has great talent for storytelling - I read this book in about 3 days. The people, places, smells, everything... it all sprang to life. I could not put Shadowbrook down. I hope she continues to author entrancing books such as this; I will be a lifelong reader if she does. She has managed to turn my eye away from historical fiction set in Europe toward that set in America.

This is a great combination of history with a great story filled with believable characters -- brothers raised with one foot in the white man's world and another in the world of the Indian. The priests, nuns, slaves, soldiers, and Indians of many tribes all play a part in this closely intertwined plot which involves land ownership, the church and its power, the Indian fight for survival, and a love story. My only complaint might be that the many Indian tribes became confusing and some of the battle scenes became difficult to follow. The plot really does depend on minute details -- sometimes almost too many to remember especially if the book is read over a period of time (just didn't have the time to read -- it really is a page turner most of the time). Overall, I felt this was a better book than City of Dreams -- more realistic, yet interesting characters. Shadowbrook paints a picture of a time when our country was being formed with all the good people, the bad people, and the many in between who were caught in circumstances beyond their control and were looking at the world in the only way they knew. Overall, a good historical read.

I won?t sketch the plot again as this has already been done above. Several things struck me as I read Shadowbrook. The first was how much popular fiction in the hands of a gifted writer can achieve. The descriptions of those things one can see, the things that might be captured by a cinematographer, are rendered in such beautiful and evocative language that you forget at times you?re not watching the big screen. The things one cannot see, the things that must be coaxed from cinematic image with inference, are conjured by Swerling with such skill that the reader thinks, dreams, smells, schemes and feels along with the book?s characters. This clean access to the ?unseeable? is one of the advantages novels enjoy over film and TV. Ironically it is the element most of today?s writers have sacrificed, apparently believing they must do so to emulate the torrid pace of cinema. Swerling has shown that this is an unnecessary sacrifice, at least for a writer as talented as she: Shadowbrook, while rich in its treatment of the ?unseeable,? moves along at an absolutely breathtaking pace. The depth given by Swerling to her characters and settings leaves you feeling at book?s end that you?ve traveled through time, that you?ve been places and met people you?ll never forget. I also found refreshing how distant events are viewed from the inside out, i.e. from the vantage point of the characters rather than from a faraway observer smothering us with facts. In Shadowbrook one sees history for what it is: a great human tide that defines us as quickly as we create it. Finally, I loved the way Swerling shows how our thoughts and actions are shaped by the prism of belief through which we view the world. That prism leaves precious little room for common ground among those who believe differently, as troubling a reality 250 years ago as it is today. One comes away with the feeling that whenever we stumble into a realm that allows us to ?connect? with people of different beliefs, we should know that we are on sacred ground and linger a while. There is much talk of magic in Shadowbrook, both on the part of the Indians and the black slaves that live on Hale Patent. But the magic not mentioned is that this wonderful story exists, and that someone among us was sufficiently ?possessed? to write it.