Official Review: Loves Journal by Kathy Forbes
Posted: 03 Dec 2019, 12:58
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Loves Journal" by Kathy Forbes.]
Maximilian Sims, Max for short, knows close to nothing about his African heritage. On a missionary trip to a village in Africa, Nelton and Sarah Sims discovered a young Max, hidden in a small ditch. The rest of Max's village was burning, and there seemed to be no sign of life. With no one to leave the baby with, Nelton and Sarah decided to take Max back with them to England. There they raised him as their own and gave him the best life possible. In another part of England, a young black girl by the name of Doris gives birth to a white baby, who she names Ruby. Nine months prior, a white man had raped Doris but Doris had chosen not to tell her parents about the crime. One afternoon, a four-month-old Ruby gets taken away from Doris by three men who suspect Doris stole the baby girl from her true parents. Doris never wins the battle to get her daughter back, and Ruby is raised by the local constable and his wife.
Max and Ruby meet in college and hit it off almost immediately. Eventually, they get married and decide to move to America, in pursuit of a better life. Just before they leave, someone who has information about Max’s village gets in touch with Nelton and Sarah. Max decides to go to Africa to meet this ‘someone,’ and Ruby is forced to venture out to America by herself. There she is confronted by the harsh realities of the slave trade. When Ruby gives birth to twins, one black and one white, her life becomes complicated in a way she never imagined.
Love's Journal is an African American historical fiction book by Kathy Forbes. The book is written in the third-person omniscient and is told from multiple characters’ perspectives. It is written in the past tense and has a print length of 268 pages. Given the numerous references to religion in the book, it can also be considered Christian fiction. The book begins in 1812 and its events take place over a period of 60 years.
What I liked most about Love's Journal was the diversity of the characters. It was easy to tell the English from the Americans, both through speech and through mannerisms. The slaves were portrayed realistically and given roles that made them memorable. I particularly liked Shirley, one of the first slaves Ruby bought once she was settled in America. Shirley not only became Ruby’s best friend but was also the voice of reason for most of the book.
What I disliked most was the lack of detail in the descriptions given in the book. This bothered me most when it came to historical information. For example, Max is simply described as being from a village on the African continent. By 1812, Africa was already divided into multiple named territories. It would have helped to at least mention the region of Africa he was from, either North, East, West, or South. This would have made it easier to imagine how he looked and would have given further insight into his culture and background.
In general, Forbes did more telling than showing. While I appreciated her simplistic writing style, I felt it came at the cost of establishing a proper context for the book’s events. The book was also several pages too long and a tad repetitive. The middle section was essentially a collection of surprise parties and weddings. There was also too much unrealistic matchmaking taking place. For example, Ruby hired seven male slaves to help build her house in America. After the men complained about loneliness, she sent out two of her workers to go pick out wives for them at a slave auction. The two workers somehow managed to find seven slave women perfectly suited for the seven male slaves. I mean, what are the odds?
As such, I rate Love’s Journal 2 out of 4 stars. I enjoyed the first and last quarters of the book. They were well-written and full of exciting events. I deny the book a star because the middle section was repetitive, contained bland descriptions, and lacked sufficient detail. The book loses another star because I came across multiple editing errors, mostly in the form of missing words and incorrect punctuation.
Despite being a love story, the book contains no descriptions of a sexual nature. I didn’t find any instances of vulgar language being used. I would advise sensitive readers to proceed with caution, as the book contains descriptions of violent acts such as beatings and rape. Otherwise, I would recommend Love’s Journal to fans of clean romance novels with a religious undertone.
******
Loves Journal
View: on Bookshelves
Maximilian Sims, Max for short, knows close to nothing about his African heritage. On a missionary trip to a village in Africa, Nelton and Sarah Sims discovered a young Max, hidden in a small ditch. The rest of Max's village was burning, and there seemed to be no sign of life. With no one to leave the baby with, Nelton and Sarah decided to take Max back with them to England. There they raised him as their own and gave him the best life possible. In another part of England, a young black girl by the name of Doris gives birth to a white baby, who she names Ruby. Nine months prior, a white man had raped Doris but Doris had chosen not to tell her parents about the crime. One afternoon, a four-month-old Ruby gets taken away from Doris by three men who suspect Doris stole the baby girl from her true parents. Doris never wins the battle to get her daughter back, and Ruby is raised by the local constable and his wife.
Max and Ruby meet in college and hit it off almost immediately. Eventually, they get married and decide to move to America, in pursuit of a better life. Just before they leave, someone who has information about Max’s village gets in touch with Nelton and Sarah. Max decides to go to Africa to meet this ‘someone,’ and Ruby is forced to venture out to America by herself. There she is confronted by the harsh realities of the slave trade. When Ruby gives birth to twins, one black and one white, her life becomes complicated in a way she never imagined.
Love's Journal is an African American historical fiction book by Kathy Forbes. The book is written in the third-person omniscient and is told from multiple characters’ perspectives. It is written in the past tense and has a print length of 268 pages. Given the numerous references to religion in the book, it can also be considered Christian fiction. The book begins in 1812 and its events take place over a period of 60 years.
What I liked most about Love's Journal was the diversity of the characters. It was easy to tell the English from the Americans, both through speech and through mannerisms. The slaves were portrayed realistically and given roles that made them memorable. I particularly liked Shirley, one of the first slaves Ruby bought once she was settled in America. Shirley not only became Ruby’s best friend but was also the voice of reason for most of the book.
What I disliked most was the lack of detail in the descriptions given in the book. This bothered me most when it came to historical information. For example, Max is simply described as being from a village on the African continent. By 1812, Africa was already divided into multiple named territories. It would have helped to at least mention the region of Africa he was from, either North, East, West, or South. This would have made it easier to imagine how he looked and would have given further insight into his culture and background.
In general, Forbes did more telling than showing. While I appreciated her simplistic writing style, I felt it came at the cost of establishing a proper context for the book’s events. The book was also several pages too long and a tad repetitive. The middle section was essentially a collection of surprise parties and weddings. There was also too much unrealistic matchmaking taking place. For example, Ruby hired seven male slaves to help build her house in America. After the men complained about loneliness, she sent out two of her workers to go pick out wives for them at a slave auction. The two workers somehow managed to find seven slave women perfectly suited for the seven male slaves. I mean, what are the odds?
As such, I rate Love’s Journal 2 out of 4 stars. I enjoyed the first and last quarters of the book. They were well-written and full of exciting events. I deny the book a star because the middle section was repetitive, contained bland descriptions, and lacked sufficient detail. The book loses another star because I came across multiple editing errors, mostly in the form of missing words and incorrect punctuation.
Despite being a love story, the book contains no descriptions of a sexual nature. I didn’t find any instances of vulgar language being used. I would advise sensitive readers to proceed with caution, as the book contains descriptions of violent acts such as beatings and rape. Otherwise, I would recommend Love’s Journal to fans of clean romance novels with a religious undertone.
******
Loves Journal
View: on Bookshelves
