New Book Renders Strong Piece of Historical Fiction

Photo: Christian Newswire
New Book Renders Strong Piece of Historical Fiction

Book Review by J. Alpha, US Review of Books

MEDIA ADVISORY, June 25 /Christian Newswire/ -- "As it is with all children who accept the reins of responsibility from a powerful parent, ultimately a time came when there were choices to be made that only a Heavenly Father could understand."

"Threads: An American Tapestry" by Gloria Waldron Hukle ( www.authorgloriawaldronhukle.com) is a story that deftly weaves together the struggles and triumphs of the differing visions and conflicts of the independent-minded characters of the New York Hudson Valley colonials, which comprised a mix of European, African, and Native American cultures, with the turmoil in the lives of three siblings--heirs to the estate of Gerrit Vandenberg, a wealthy New York North River Valley landowner.

However, as the central theme of Threads reveals, prosperity does not exclude life's struggles from the affluent, nor is it a shield against the lifelong prejudices and alienation Margaret Vandenberg had experienced as a "high-brow Indian woman"--Garrit Vandenberg's "half-breed" daughter, who in spite of her good intentions and acts of charity and generosity remains a slave to the suspicions, mistrust, and hatred of her mixed heritage and Old World enemies as she struggles to retain sole control over her families upstate New York estate when her long thought dead brother returns with a wife and business partner. Thus the stage has been set for Threads compelling story conflict which builds on the tension between the main characters, their internal constraints, and the outside forces of their environment and opposing external forces.

As the story (circa 1723) begins, Margaret Vandenberg--well into her thirties--prepares to marry for the first time while facing the smoldering emotions of envy and perceived corruption of religious beliefs, in addition to the tragic murder of one of her black servants and the secret involvement of another who is harboring runaway slaves by providing a stopover at her manor on their way to Canada.

Compelled to follow an obstacle strewn path, Margaret knew full well that her decisions would alter the course of her life, but never could have conceived of all the other lives that would also be altered. A woman of strong faith, Margaret vows that she will leave her fate, in God's hand, but yet as a strong, resourceful, and independent woman she also understands that the consequences of her decisions are hers to hold forever.

Threads--Hukle's third installment in The Waldron Series--is a reflective tale told with an infusion of relevant historical facts that enhance both the action and pacing of the plot. Often in historical fiction, authors unintentionally lose their characters inside their story-like passages of exhaustive research, but Hukle has completely avoided this common pitfall, having rendered a strong piece of historical fiction for readers to be drawn into with her solid research, solid character renderings, and solid writing.

The US Review of Books
PO Box 11, Titusville, NJ 08560