Into the Wilderness

Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I started this book with the understanding that it would be similar to DG's Outlander series. I did not realize it was fanfiction (of Outlander and The Last of the Mohicans) until a bit into the book. Outlander characters make appearances in name only - otherwise all comparisons can stop there. This book doesn't have the skill of DG's short-story-within-a-bigger-story, but it is a skillfully told single story with strong characters.

I enjoyed the straightforwardness of (most) of the writing. Occasionally the author wrote descriptions that while charming, fell short of the way that DG writes, missing the visual mark, and making odd word pairings that pulled me out of the story. Enjoyed the author's inclination for less poetic structure and ability to move the story quickly.

Summary: It is December of 1792. Elizabeth Middleton leaves her comfortable English estate to join her family in a remote New York mountain village. It is a place unlike any she has ever experienced. And she meets a man unlike any she has ever encountered - a white man dressed like a Native American, Nathanial Booner, known to the Mohawk people as Between-Two-Lives. Determined to provide schooling for all the children of the village, she soon finds herself locked in conflict with the local slave owners as well as her own family.

Recommended Reading:
The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon
A Silent Ocean Away by DeVa Gantt
The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett