Grandma’s Book Review: A Gathering of Eagles by Gilbert Morris

This review was written November 16, 1998 by my grandmother. She’s noted (with an exclamation point and circle around the phrase, to boot) that it’s “A good book!” Here are her thoughts:

It’s 1800, and war is raging between France and England. Capt. Honor Wakefield is in the British Navy. He is Marquee of Wakefield. His daughter Shaynea is 17 and in love with her distant cousin, Cathan Morgan. Another cousin, Trevor, loves her too, but she tries to elope with Cathan . Trevor prevents it. Cathan goes to London where he gets drunk and into trouble and he lands in jail. He is put aboard a ship to work – Honor’s ship. Trevor is on board as the ship’s doctor. Shayna is there too. What happens changes all their lives. Cathan and Shayna marry.

Looking about on Amazon, I see that this is actually #7 in the Wakefield Dynasty series. There’s something after the bit about it changing all their lives in Grandma’s notebook, but I can’t quite make it out (she was a firm believer in cursive, but it also seems my father and I come by our handwriting honestly.)

I’m not typically a historical fiction fan. This stems from the fact that I’m not, in general, a history buff. So to me, historical fiction takes the best thing in the world (fiction) and mixes it with something dreadfully boring (history). I realize I’m a minority here, and I’m ok with that. (And there are some notable exceptions to my rule but I do read it, and sometimes I even like it, just not as often as non-historical.) That said, this actually sounds kind of interesting, if rife with melodrama. (And I’m trying to picture grandma in her chair reading this and struggling slightly.)

So what do you think – are you intrigued? Does it sound like something you’d enjoy reading?