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Reviewed by:
  • Eggs
  • Karen Coats
Spinelli, Jerry Eggs. Little, 2007220p ISBN 0-316-16646-4$15.99 R Gr. 4-7

When Turnbull left her Quaker sweethearts Susanna Thorn and William Heywood at the conclusion of No Shame, No Fear (BCCB 11/04), their love and faith, already tested by government persecution, were about to be tried by a long separation, during which the betrothed teens prepared economically for marriage. But as this novel opens and William is ready to bring Susanna up to London to begin their life together, the plague of 1665 forces draconian travel restrictions. When Susanna finally reaches the city, a misunderstanding regarding William's relationship with the daughter of a well-to-do Quaker benefactor undermines her trust and she releases him from their engagement. Readers know Turnbull hasn't brought them through imprisonment, separation, and disease for nothing, though, and the marriage does indeed take place. Another author, or another historical setting, might safely leave the couple at "I do," but exigencies of historical fact decree that they only get a few peaceful months of honeymooning before London bursts into flames in 1666, and now-pregnant Susanna and her husband must start over again, this time with the assistance of William's father, from whom he has long been estranged. Although Turnbull draws her historical backdrop with compelling authority, this is at heart a tender and ever so satisfying love story in which amorous passion and religious conviction, too often at odds in works of fiction, unite the newlyweds to face whatever history throws their way.

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