The Preacher's Bride

I'm so excited! I get to interview Author, Jody Hedlund in a few weeks over her new novel, The Doctor's Lady. Well, I want to do a good job, to give you plenty of insight into the world of this amazing lady, so I decided I'd better get to know her writing a bit. I bought her debut novel, The Preacher's Bride and finished it off in a very late night/early morning reading session.

What a remarkable book. Instantly it swept me into 1659's of Puritan England. I had read Pilgrim accounts of the era, but I never
really understood the Puritan point of view or the labyrinth of political pressures during the time period. Jody wove into her story the hopelessness of the poor, the frustration of the middle classes, and the determination of the devout.

The story traces the life of Elizabeth Whitbread, a young Puritan, who becomes the housekeeper for minister, John Costin after his beloved wife dies. Costin reels from the pain of losing his wife and detaches from his four young children. Meanwhile, Elizabeth spends her days helping the children heal from their loss. It isn't long before Costin recognizes Elizabeth's worth and begins to fall in love with her. She deals with feelings for him, but is promised to another man and intends to honor that promise.

The story is further complicated by the political environment in the final days of Cromwell's authority. With the Royalists coming back into power, their persecution of the Puritans is wholly acceptable, even to the point of beatings, rapes, and murders.

I have to tell you that my biggest delight was learning this story was based on real people. The subject is no secret, but I didn't know it until I read the Epilogue and it made the book that much better to me! You can easily find out the real man behind the character, John Costin, at one of the Amazon articles found HERE. But I won't tell. Like I said, it was much better finding it out at the end of the book!

Update 9-18-11 My review of this book stands for the most part. I enjoyed the story very much, but I did find myself scanning through long passages of description. I had to do that with every Phyllis A. Whitney I ever read, too, skipping through the fluff to get to the good stuff is what I always said. Jody's fluff was still very good, but I was intent on the story.