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Before picking up this book, I did not know much about the Great Lakes, other than where they were and that they consisted of five different lakes. I do, however, love books that are based on true events, for they always display an astounding amount of dedication from the author, who has to have spent so much time researching the events and finding out what happened, let alone putting it down in words. And so, it did not take much for me to agree to read this book.
This novel follows three different women, three sisters. The eldest, Anges, is at home, looking after her mother, and wishing she was anywhere but where she was. The middle child, Sunny, is working on the Titus Brown, as a cook who is much loved by the sailors for her baked goods. The youngest, Cordelia, embarks on the Marguerite, captained by her new husband, in a bid for adventure and to get to know her husband better, having only known him for a short time.
With the arrival of a storm, everyone is sure it will simply blow over, that ships will be able to ride it out, and that it won’t last too long. After all, deliveries must be made, so stopping for too long, or being delayed, was undesired. However, with the storm worsening and the ships showing signs of succumbing, rather than powering on, all three sisters find their lives thrown into chaos.
Strong female characters are always a joy to read about, but not every strong character feels the same as how they portray their emotions. When the Titus Brown sustains damage, Sunny focuses on making sure the crew is fed, and keeping their spirits up, and grows desperate to try and get food to the officers stuck at the other end of the ship. But, inside, she is terrified. She has dreams to open a restaurant, to stay onshore and not boarding a ship come Spring. The storm gives her the opportunity to evaluate her life. Why should she continue to live a life she doesn’t want to, when another option is available? And yet, to make her dreams come true, she first has to make it back to shore alive.
This novel is full of moments that have you on the edge of your seat, and almost every chapter ends with a cliffhanger. With Sunny and Cordelia out on the water, you cannot help but force your eyes open, to stay awake for another chapter, for you really feel for the characters, and I am not sure I would’ve been able to sleep without knowing what happened next anyway! I will certainly be reading this book again, and I strongly suggest you grab a copy as well.
Three sisters. Two Great Lakes. One furious storm.
Based on actual events...
It's 1913 and Great Lakes galley cook Sunny Colvin has her hands full feeding a freighter crew seven days a week, nine months a year. She also has a dream—to open a restaurant back home—but knows she'd never convince her husband, the steward, to leave the seafaring life he loves.
In Sunny’s Lake Huron hometown, her sister Agnes Inby mourns her husband, a
U.S. Life-Saving Serviceman who died in an accident she believes she could have
prevented. Burdened with regret and longing for more than her job at the dry
goods store, she looks for comfort in a secret infatuation.
Two hundred miles away in Cleveland, youngest sister Cordelia Blythe has pinned her hopes for adventure on her marriage to a lake freighter captain. Finding herself alone and restless in her new town, she joins him on the season’s last trip up the lakes.
On November 8, 1913, a deadly storm descends on the Great Lakes, bringing hurricane-force winds, whiteout blizzard conditions, and mountainous thirty-five-foot waves that last for days. Amidst the chaos, the women are offered a glimpse of the clarity they seek, if only they dare to perceive it.
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Kinley Bryan is an Ohio native who counts numerous Great Lakes captains among her ancestors. Her great-grandfather Walter Stalker was captain of the four-masted schooner Golden Age, the largest sailing vessel in the world when it launched in 1883. Kinley’s love for the inland seas swelled during the years she spent in an old cottage on Lake Erie. She now lives with her husband and children on the Atlantic Coast, where she prefers not to lose sight of the shore. Sisters of the Sweetwater Fury is her first novel.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for reviewing Sisters of the Sweetwater Fury! So glad you enjoyed it.
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