COURTING MORROW LITTLE

By Laura Franz
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group
ISBN 978-0-8007-3340-7

Echoes of the day her family was torn apart by raiding Shawnee warriors hangs at the fringes of Morrow Little’s early childhood memory. Nearly a grown woman and caring for her ailing father, she is faced different men competing for her affection—one utterly obnoxious while another is strangely intriguing and frightening at the same time. If she marries the first, she’ll bind herself to a man she doesn’t love. If she marries the second, she’ll be accused of being a traitor. But which is worse? Betraying one’s countrymen or betraying one’s family?

Author Laura Franz has crafted a novel that captured my senses and drew me into the life of a young woman, Morrow Little, raised on the frontier of Kentucky in the 1760’s. Franz’s gift of turning a phrase made my imagination dance:

From chapter 8:
Once again, Morrow stood before the dusty mirror on the east side of the dogtrot, the chaotic remains of the cabin all around her. Spiderwebs glinted silver in the morning light, and the huge stone hearth gaped empty like the mouth of a cave.

From chapter 16:
A bitter breeze wafted through the open window, but she didn’t want to shut it, as if doing so would shut away the memory of what had happened here. She wanted to hold on to the sweet feeling of forgiveness a little longer.

This story will transport you back to the time of our country’s infancy, when patriots warred with oppressors as well as those natives who claimed this land centuries before the arrival of the Europeans. The struggle that takes place outwardly as Morrow seeks to make choices that will mold her future, and the internal struggle as she comes to grips with loss, both past and present, will not let you put this book down.