Review: The Valley by Helen Bryan

The Valley

by Helen Bryan

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 640

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Left suddenly penniless, the Honorable Sophia Grafton, a viscount’s orphaned daughter, sails to the New World to claim the only property left to her name: a tobacco plantation in the remote wilds of colonial Virginia. Enlisting the reluctant assistance of a handsome young French spy—at gunpoint—she gathers an unlikely group of escaped slaves and indentured servants, each seeking their own safe haven in the untamed New World.

What follows will test her courage and that of her companions as they struggle to survive a journey deep into a hostile wilderness and eventually forge a community of homesteads and deep bonds that will unite them for generations.

Kritters Thoughts:  I am not one to read a lot of chunky books, I just like to read a story in a smaller span of time, but the synopsis of this book was so amazing in the pitch, that I just couldn't say no!

Sophia Grafton comes from a family in England with wealth and prestige and when her world tips upside down she must make a drastic decision and a complete change in the direction of her life.  She moves from England to Virginia to inherit land bequeathed from the king to her father and then to her.  The journey is long and the threat of Indians is big and real and disease and the English and French warring, so life isn't easy.

First let me say, I latched onto reading this book due to the synopsis, so from the start I was ready for the journey to Virginia.  Not spoiling, but the journey to VA isn't that early in the book.  It took quite a few pages to even have her life change to send her on that journey and although I enjoyed those pages, I felt as though they could have been pulled and have been a prequel book and the Virginia journey and beyond was a book in and of itself.  This didn't make me dislike the book, I just was ready for a certain part of the book to get going.

This was a fantastic historical saga and I would recommend it to readers who love the epic stories, but it is definitely one of those chunky books that is better read with a slow and steady pace.  



Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.