I appreciate the
in-depth research Jocelyn Green did in preparation for writing A Refuge Assured. In her final notes,
she helps the reader separate fact from fiction, which is also appreciated.
Green’s writing piqued my interest, and as I was reading I did google searches
on Alexander Hamilton’s role in the Whiskey Rebellion, the French aristocracy
fleeing the French Revolution for the safety of the United States of America,
and on Asylum, Pennsylvania. All of which was quite interesting and aligned
with Green’s well written tale of Vivienne Rivard and William (Liam) Delaney.
Vivienne, a
resident of Paris, France and a lace maker to the queen, finds herself alone
and in danger as her known family have died and being a lace maker has become a
capital offense under the new regime. It would appear that her only hope of
survival is to approach a stranger who had been willing to see to her mother’s
escape, but circumstances make her only too aware that she must be the director
of her own destiny. Arriving in the country that had only recently seen its own
revolution, Vivienne is determined to make her own way. Little did she know
that she would also become responsible for making the way for another.
Liam Delaney once
served as a soldier in the War of Independence, now he is torn between
allegiance to the new nation and allegiance to his own conscience. Are those
protesting the excise tax on distilled spirits write in their claims that they
are once again being unfairly taxed or are Washington and Hamilton right in
their extreme measures of enforcing the tax? While Liam much prefers time on
his farm away from such political controversy, his job as a postal carrier
brings him into Philadelphia, the nation’s capital, on a regular basis. The
opportunity to visit his tavern-keeping sister made the trip and its nuisances
worthwhile, and now there was also the opportunity to see the tavern’s new
baker, Vivienne Rivard.
Fans of
historical fiction will gladly spend time between the covers of A Refuge Assured, and will hope for
future stories about the Delaney family. I thank NetGalley and the Bethany House Publishers for providing me with a copy of A Refuge Assured in exchange for my honest review. I received no
monetary compensation for providing this review.
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