Utterly mesmerizing

May 28, 2017 on Readers’ Favorite.com | 5 stars

“Listen,” Gabriel Da Silva told his two children, Sarah and Jacob, “listen well because I am preparing you for life.” These arresting words open That Woman: Beating the Odds in Colonial New York by Wayne Clark, a historical novel that deals with kidnapping and a woman’s incredible courage. At a time their mother dies of illness, seventeen-year-old Sarah’s father is facing bankruptcy. The day that the merchant tries the final bid to save his family, Sarah and her brother, Jacob, are kidnapped and sold. The two kids are boarded onto a ship bound for New York where they will be sold to separate masters. Read on to discover how Sarah uses her intelligence, secrets learned while on the ship, and her will to be free to outwit the vilest and most cunning merchant in New York.

Wayne Clark could be the new Jeffrey Archer, another master of the plot. His That Woman: Beating the Odds in Colonial New York is a story that held me in ways I never could have imagined when I started reading. The characters are very compelling, each with a solid background and each born from a powerful conflict. The duel between Sarah and her new lord raises the stakes of the conflict in this novel and the reader becomes very keen to watch how it ends. Here is a story that dramatically captures the spirit of colonialism and slavery, with a masterful handling of the theme of freedom. Readers are taken on a roller coaster ride to colonial New York to witness a drama that will take their breath away. It’s utterly mesmerizing and tantalizing.

Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers’ Favorite