Description: When captured rebel Scotsman Alex MacKinnon is granted the king's mercy--exile to the Colony of North Carolina--he's indentured to Englishman Edmund Carey as a blacksmith. Against his will Alex is drawn into the struggles of Carey's slaves--and those of his stepdaughter, Joanna Carey.
A mistress with a servant's heart, Joanna is expected to wed her father's overseer, Phineas Reeves, but finds herself drawn instead to the new blacksmith. As their unlikely relationship deepens, successive tragedies strike the Careys. When blame falls unfairly upon Alex he flees to the distant mountains where he encounters Reverend Pauling, itinerate preacher and friend of the Careys, now a prisoner of the Cherokees.
Haunted by his abandoning of Joanna, Alex tries to settle into life with the Cherokees, until circumstances thwart yet another attempt to forge his freedom and he's faced with the choice that's long hounded him: continue down his rebellious path or embrace the faith of a man like Pauling, whose freedom in Christ no man can steal. But the price of such mercy is total surrender, and perhaps Alex's very life.
My Thoughts: The King's Mercy is a story somewhat different from the rest of Lori's other books. While the narrative does still feature Native Americans, they play a much smaller part in this than they have in her other works.
I was pleasantly surprised by the history woven into this story. While I had already known that many people had been forced into indenture by various kings as a form of punishment, I had not known of the conflict which took place in this book which resulted in Alex's being sent to the colonies. These little nuggets of history are why I love author's like Lori Benton.
However, I was not as taken with this book has I have been with Lori's others. It was still an enjoyable read, but I did not find myself relating as well with the characters or the events of the story. While the day to day tasks and mannerisms of this book are perhaps better researched, the historical events did not seem to play as great of a part.
Still, I appreciated the diversity of characters and the differing view points they all had on the same events. And once Joanna began to question whether or not her life, and that of those around her, truly had to remain as it always had been, I was excited to find out how she would go about changing things... or perhaps what plans God had for all of them.
I think that this will be a great read for those who enjoy novels set on plantations, as well as stories surrounding the issue of slavery and human suffering. For fans of Lori's usual tales of the clash and melding of Native American and White culture, however, this may not be your preferred one of Lori's books.
I have provided an honest review after receiving an ARC from the publisher.
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