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A review by albrim
Queen of Swords by Sara Donati
4.0
In the fifth book of Donati's "Wilderness" series, it follows from the fourth book, [b:Fire Along the Sky|72856|Fire Along the Sky (Wilderness, #4)|Sara Donati|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1367534610s/72856.jpg|6273058], though a year has passed. In that year, Luke Scott and his half-sister Hannah Bonner have traveled the Caribbean in order to rescue his fiancée, Jennet. They find her and kill her captors before escaping to Luke's mother's estate for safety. He and Jennet are married and she confesses she gave birth to Luke's son in the past year. To keep the boy safe, though, she gave him to a man named Honore Poiterin. After he forced her to marry him in a sham ceremony (the minister had been defrocked and had no authority to marry anyone). Jennet and Luke have to overcome this and get their son back from Honore, traveling to Pensacola, FL, to do so.
But the War of 1812 is still ongoing and affecting the Gulf area. With the British closing in, Honore has escaped to his family home in New Orleans and put the boy (named Nathaniel) into the care of his powerful grandmother, Agnes. Jennet and Hannah make the journey to New Orleans with Luke planning to travel behind them. Jennet gets herself into Agnes Poiterin's household, pretending to be Honore's obedient wife. Agnes puts restrictions on what Jennet can and cannot do and in the end won't guarantee she'll let Jennet remain "married" to Honore and raise Nathaniel. Hannah meanwhile comes into the city but is unable to help her friend due to swamp sickness. She is rescued by Paul Savard from [b:Lake in the Clouds|72855|Lake in the Clouds (Wilderness, #3)|Sara Donati|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1367533032s/72855.jpg|845657]and is reunited with Jennet and the baby at his house. Paul's half brother Ben helps them escape Agnes and brings them to Paul's for safety. Luke is reunited with them shortly after as General Andrew Jackson arrives in New Orleans. War is bearing down on them and the family has to hold on for it.
This is the first book where Nathaniel and Elizabeth do not play a major role in some way. And it feels right. Like the series has slowly become Hannah's, who is the main star of this book with Luke and Jennet close behind. It seems very natural for the children, now grown, to move to the forefront while the parents move to the background. We mostly hear about Paradise and Lake in the Clouds through letters and that is okay. It is enough to know life goes on up in New York, though Nathaniel and Runs-From-Bears show up to help with the war. But they are still minor characters, there to support Hannah.
[b:Queen of Swords|72848|Queen of Swords (Wilderness, #5)|Sara Donati|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320407738s/72848.jpg|1738030] is also the first book where I really feel Ms. Gabaldon's influence on Ms. Donati's writing. Yes, even after the fact [b:Dawn on a Distant Shore|820956|Dawn on a Distant Shore (Wilderness, #2)|Sara Donati|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320465036s/820956.jpg|806796] took place mostly in Scotland. Jennet and Hannah are put through the Jamie Fraser ringer. For those wondering, it's what I call it when an author throws as many traumatic events at their character as possible. Jennet has a more realistic reaction to her traumas than Hannah but in the end, it still feels right to her character. But it's mostly in the beginning of the novel, which can make it a bit difficult to get through emotionally. Most of it is Jennet's--Hannah's comes later and has a bit more of a punch than before because of how well things were going. And the tension is built up better toward the middle rather than the beginning.
Most of the story takes place in New Orleans at the end of the War of 1812. Which means the city is bracing itself for war to come to it. But it's a great setting. It's unique in early American history in how the races interacted. Mulattos and Creoles, Native Americans and Whites, etc. It's a fascinating world and a good place for someone like Hannah, who walks between two worlds herself. But it still shows the prejudices which still run through the city. Hannah encounters them when she sets up a clinic in the city and has to earn the trust of the different groups of color in the city. But I have gone on about how much I admire and enjoy Donati's description skills, I feel like I'd bore you now and wouldn't really add anything more.
Jean-Benoit Savard or "Ben" as he is simply known is the romantic partner I had wanted for Hannah back in [b:Lake in the Clouds|72855|Lake in the Clouds (Wilderness, #3)|Sara Donati|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1367533032s/72855.jpg|845657]. Someone who shared the same world she did--the one between "White" and "non-white." I never got why Hannah had to choose between the two in [b:Lake in the Clouds|72855|Lake in the Clouds (Wilderness, #3)|Sara Donati|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1367533032s/72855.jpg|845657]. I always saw her walking the line between the two--"red" enough for the Native peoples, "white" enough for the Americans. He understands her struggles because they have been his. While he is strong, he is also playful. In all, he's the right man for Hannah in my opinion. And a bit different from the usual Donati romantic hero, though he still is very similar to Nathaniel. He works well with Hannah and when they get together in the end, it is very satisfying. The only thing I think was held off for too long was Hannah's reason for keeping Ben at arm's length for a long time. I feel this could've been brought in sooner. But he does tread very close to Jamie Fraser territory: where everyone likes him and all the women want him. Luckily, there are no hints the men want him as well.
Luke and Jennet, once reunited, are quite an interesting couple though overshadowed by Hannah and Ben. But they have a realistic relationship in which one person has suffered a trauma. Luke wants to do everything in his power to help Jennet but he doesn't know how to. All he can do is love her and wait for her to move on past what has happened to her. It takes some time but it happens. I feel this was handled better than how Gabaldon approached Jamie and Claire's relationship after her trauma in [b:Dragonfly in Amber|5364|Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2)|Diana Gabaldon|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320388682s/5364.jpg|2866304].
The antagonists of this book are a step above the minister from the last book but not quite up to Martha Kuick's level. Agnes and Honore Poiterin are privileged, wealthy and used to getting their way. There isn't much to make Agnes sympathetic. She orders people around and scorns Jennet, who most likely outranks her in society no matter her country of birth. I would've expected a bit more help from her brother's people in some way but Luke and Jennet found their allies against Agnes. After all powerful people have many enemies. Honore, though, is more of a sociopath due to his upbringing under his grandmother. He doesn't care who he hurts along the way as long as he gets what he wants. And we see that because Donati goes deeper with him than his grandmother.
All in all, another good entry in an excellent series.
But the War of 1812 is still ongoing and affecting the Gulf area. With the British closing in, Honore has escaped to his family home in New Orleans and put the boy (named Nathaniel) into the care of his powerful grandmother, Agnes. Jennet and Hannah make the journey to New Orleans with Luke planning to travel behind them. Jennet gets herself into Agnes Poiterin's household, pretending to be Honore's obedient wife. Agnes puts restrictions on what Jennet can and cannot do and in the end won't guarantee she'll let Jennet remain "married" to Honore and raise Nathaniel. Hannah meanwhile comes into the city but is unable to help her friend due to swamp sickness. She is rescued by Paul Savard from [b:Lake in the Clouds|72855|Lake in the Clouds (Wilderness, #3)|Sara Donati|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1367533032s/72855.jpg|845657]and is reunited with Jennet and the baby at his house. Paul's half brother Ben helps them escape Agnes and brings them to Paul's for safety. Luke is reunited with them shortly after as General Andrew Jackson arrives in New Orleans. War is bearing down on them and the family has to hold on for it.
This is the first book where Nathaniel and Elizabeth do not play a major role in some way. And it feels right. Like the series has slowly become Hannah's, who is the main star of this book with Luke and Jennet close behind. It seems very natural for the children, now grown, to move to the forefront while the parents move to the background. We mostly hear about Paradise and Lake in the Clouds through letters and that is okay. It is enough to know life goes on up in New York, though Nathaniel and Runs-From-Bears show up to help with the war. But they are still minor characters, there to support Hannah.
[b:Queen of Swords|72848|Queen of Swords (Wilderness, #5)|Sara Donati|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320407738s/72848.jpg|1738030] is also the first book where I really feel Ms. Gabaldon's influence on Ms. Donati's writing. Yes, even after the fact [b:Dawn on a Distant Shore|820956|Dawn on a Distant Shore (Wilderness, #2)|Sara Donati|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320465036s/820956.jpg|806796] took place mostly in Scotland. Jennet and Hannah are put through the Jamie Fraser ringer. For those wondering, it's what I call it when an author throws as many traumatic events at their character as possible. Jennet has a more realistic reaction to her traumas than Hannah but in the end, it still feels right to her character. But it's mostly in the beginning of the novel, which can make it a bit difficult to get through emotionally. Most of it is Jennet's--Hannah's comes later and has a bit more of a punch than before because of how well things were going. And the tension is built up better toward the middle rather than the beginning.
Most of the story takes place in New Orleans at the end of the War of 1812. Which means the city is bracing itself for war to come to it. But it's a great setting. It's unique in early American history in how the races interacted. Mulattos and Creoles, Native Americans and Whites, etc. It's a fascinating world and a good place for someone like Hannah, who walks between two worlds herself. But it still shows the prejudices which still run through the city. Hannah encounters them when she sets up a clinic in the city and has to earn the trust of the different groups of color in the city. But I have gone on about how much I admire and enjoy Donati's description skills, I feel like I'd bore you now and wouldn't really add anything more.
Jean-Benoit Savard or "Ben" as he is simply known is the romantic partner I had wanted for Hannah back in [b:Lake in the Clouds|72855|Lake in the Clouds (Wilderness, #3)|Sara Donati|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1367533032s/72855.jpg|845657]. Someone who shared the same world she did--the one between "White" and "non-white." I never got why Hannah had to choose between the two in [b:Lake in the Clouds|72855|Lake in the Clouds (Wilderness, #3)|Sara Donati|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1367533032s/72855.jpg|845657]. I always saw her walking the line between the two--"red" enough for the Native peoples, "white" enough for the Americans. He understands her struggles because they have been his. While he is strong, he is also playful. In all, he's the right man for Hannah in my opinion. And a bit different from the usual Donati romantic hero, though he still is very similar to Nathaniel. He works well with Hannah and when they get together in the end, it is very satisfying. The only thing I think was held off for too long was Hannah's reason for keeping Ben at arm's length for a long time.
Spoiler
It's revealed Hannah has closed herself off after the death of her husband, afraid of loving another man only to lose him to war.Luke and Jennet, once reunited, are quite an interesting couple though overshadowed by Hannah and Ben. But they have a realistic relationship in which one person has suffered a trauma. Luke wants to do everything in his power to help Jennet but he doesn't know how to. All he can do is love her and wait for her to move on past what has happened to her. It takes some time but it happens. I feel this was handled better than how Gabaldon approached Jamie and Claire's relationship after her trauma in [b:Dragonfly in Amber|5364|Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2)|Diana Gabaldon|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320388682s/5364.jpg|2866304].
The antagonists of this book are a step above the minister from the last book but not quite up to Martha Kuick's level. Agnes and Honore Poiterin are privileged, wealthy and used to getting their way. There isn't much to make Agnes sympathetic. She orders people around and scorns Jennet, who most likely outranks her in society no matter her country of birth. I would've expected a bit more help from her brother's people in some way but Luke and Jennet found their allies against Agnes. After all powerful people have many enemies. Honore, though, is more of a sociopath due to his upbringing under his grandmother. He doesn't care who he hurts along the way as long as he gets what he wants. And we see that because Donati goes deeper with him than his grandmother.
Spoiler
Their ultimate demises are moments to cheer in the book.All in all, another good entry in an excellent series.