Natasha Boyd (1)

This book is based upon real events and real persons. For me that is the best kind of historical fiction. The author used historical documents, including the protagonist's own letters, to research this book. As unlikely as it seems, this tale of a sixteen year old girl handling three plantation is South Carolina in 1739 is based on truth.

Eliza Lucas was left in charge of three plantations in South Carolina while her father went to Antigua to take part in the war between Spain and England over trading rights and become Lieutenant Governor of the island. To finance this career he mortgaged some of the plantations which left Eliza trying to earn enough income to pay the mortgages and support her family and slaves. She came up with the idea of growing indigo which was the source of blue dye at that time. She had always been interested in botany and she was friends with a neighbour gentleman who was also a botanist. Using seeds sent to her from Antigua by her father she planted the first test crop. That first crop is killed by a late frost.. She enlists the help of a slave, Sarah, from one of the other plantations who is said to know about indigo cultivation. She also asks her father to send someone from Antigua who is knowledgeable in indigo production. That second crop was devastated by an insect that was partial to indigo.While Eliza is trying to support the family and estates her mother is determined she should be married. Eliza is opposed to marrying anyone but especially the older man her mother chooses. When the expert from Antigua arrived he brought with him her childhood friend, Ben, who proved to be much more help than the "expert". Ben was still a slave but Eliza hoped to gain his freedom. She also decided to teach her own slaves to read so she was an exception in terms of slave-ownership. With Ben's help her third crop succeeded and she proved that indigo could be successfully grown in South Carolina. She distributed seeds to other plantation owners which helped establish indigo as a cash crop second only to rice there. Despite her mother's misgivings about being able to attract a husband when she was involved in business and finance, Eliza did marry. The Pinckneys of Charles Town had been good friends and when Mrs. Pinckney died, Charles Pinckney (after a decent period of mourning) proposed to Eliza. Charles has always supported Eliza's ambitions so she was sure that, as his wife, he would continue to support her.

This book highlights how dependent women at the time were on their fathers and husbands. Eliza's circumstances were somewhat unique but she would always run the risk of losing her independence if she had the wrong marriage partner. No wonder she resisted marriage for so long.… (más)

3.5 stars - the parallels to Twilight movies and RobP are obvious and hard to ignore... and there is the 20-something year old virgin (who in this case has never been kissed as well)that usually drives me crazy with annoyance...despite these I found myself pulled into the predictable story of Jack and Keri Ann. Both characters were really like-able and they made me want to know where their story will go next. I'll read the next book. While some deeper issues are hinted at in the story, they aren't explored in this book 1, so maybe more depth will come in this so far beautiful love affair. Fun read.… (más)