Monday, March 4, 2013

Chains of Freedom by Jess Mountifield

Title:  Chains of Freedom
Author:  Jess Mountifield
Published:  June 6th 2012 by Red Feather Writing
Page Count:  167
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Shelf:  Review Copy
Rating:  ★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Kaihaitu has been trained for leadership since she was a small child but nothing quite prepared her for the arrival of the British Redcoats. When they build their new fort right by the Maori fishing grounds and refuse to allow access to the Maori people there are very few options for Kai to take.

With her father dead and other villagers sick she has to make a choice between her heart and her head.

My Review:

I found this novella to be very interesting while at the same time, quite hard to get into. It was very intriguing and you got to know a great deal about the difficulties facing the lives of the Maori during the time period. I appreciate the fact that Mountifield didn’t try to fit lots of unimportant details into this novella. Considering the short length of the story this would have greatly distracted from the storyline. The author walked the perfect line between relevant story details and irrelevant ‘fluff’ while telling her story.

The character development was great, especially considering the condensed length of a novella. You really get to know the main characters and why they act the way that they do. She also shows the contrast between the three clashing cultures without making them seem like different species. Mountifield manages to highlight these cultural differences while showing that individuals can still act based on their own beliefs and values.

As a whole this was a quite well written novella. I really appreciate the author’s attention to detail and historical accuracy.


Buy your copy online here today!



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