Review: Fields of the Fatherless by Elaine Marie Cooper

From Goodreads.com 

In the early months of 1775, war is brewing in the American colonies. Although frightened, eighteen-year-old Betsy Russell of Menotomy Village, Massachusetts, wants to be prepared in case of attack by the British troops.

Her father, prosperous farmer Jason, is the fourth generation of Russells on this land—yet their very rights as British Colonials are being stripped away one by one. Will the King of England take their land as well?

Tensions are growing here in the countryside west of Boston and the outbreak of battle seems almost a certainty. Jason desperately wants to protect his family—his wife, children and grandchildren—and their future. Betsy makes every attempt to be prepared for the worst.

But not even the American militia could have predicted what was about to occur—right on the Russells’ doorstep. If Betsy loses everything she holds dear, are the rights of all the Colonists endangered?

Based on a true story.

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 My Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Anyone who knows me, knows I love everything related to the American Revolutionary War. So when I found this one in the freebie section of Amazon, I had to have it. 

The author did an amazing job in not only telling the story from the point of view of your "typical" teenage girl, but for also bringing every emotion to the surface. It was easy to find myself lost in this world, seeing the things Betsy saw, hearing the things she did. I found myself feeling her fear, and grieving with her. I mourned the loss of certain characters while rejoicing in the birth of others... yeah it was definitely one of those novels. 

To make matters better (or worse *laughs*) at the end of the novel there is an author's note letting you know that not only was this novel based on true events (that much I knew); even the main character Betsy Russell was a real person. That made this fictional re-telling of her story seem more real and heart wrenching to me. 

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Fields of the Fatherless is available from Amazon.com