Katherine Scott Crawford

Quincey MacFadden, twenty-five, lives in Charlestown, South Carolina with her grandsire in 1768. They had been grieving over the loss of her cousin to a band of Shawnee Indians when a man shows up with his ring saying that the Shawnee still hold him alive but not for much longer. Quinn's grandfather cannot leave his business affairs to make the journey into the Blue Ridge Mountains to barter for his life, but Quinn can. Moreover, Quinn plans on using her dowry money to buy land and stay there where she can be free to be who she is: a woman who reads rides horses astride and cares not a whit for society.

Though her grandfather is against it, Quinn and the man with the information head out with a local preacher as chaperon and her worldly goods and stuff to trade for land and for Owen's life. When they arrive at Fort Prince Georgie they discover that the soldiers are abandoning the fort and that the trapper that they are looking for, Jack Wolf, to help her find her cousin isn't there. They do come across two Cherokee and they agree to take her to Attakullakulla the head of the Cherokee to barter for land. Attakullakulla agrees to see the mad woman who wants to barter for land rather than just take it or marry into it. He swaps for 400 acres with the agreement that the Cherokee can use it to hunt on and that Cherokee and those they are friends with will have safe passage across it.

While waiting for Jack Wolf to show up, she has already sent out the word that she is looking for homesteaders. The Cherokee take her to her land and soon people begin to arrive looking to work the land in exchange for a home on it. They seem surprised when she doesn't charge them for the land. Some families come as well as an ex-slave named Hosa and a former lord named Harris. They begin to build homes on the site starting with hers first.

Then Jack Wolf arrives. The half Irish half Cherokee man captivates her from the start as she does him. He tells her its way too dangerous for her to go after her cousin. That he'll go and get him for her and the voice in her head that is part of her Sight, of which she sometimes sees things to come and things that have passed, tells her to trust him, so she does. It isn't too long before her cousin is returned to her. She had hoped that he would stay and live with her, but he has had his fill of wilderness and wants to go home to boring Charlestown and work for grandfather.

Ridge Runner, Jack's half-brother hunts with him and the two would leave food for the people of the settlement. At first, his presence caused unease but gradually those that found him unsettling warmed up to him. He named the wild Arabian horse Quinn tames Fire Eater and he gives Quinn her Cherokee name Rides-Like-A-Man.

Jack wants to marry Quinn but she doesn't want to give up her land or her freedom to some man, even though he assures her he has no interest in her land and he would never dream of curtailing her freedom. On top of that, both Quinn and her cousin have both had visions of a war to come and neither knows which side the Cherokee play in it. Where she lives she should be safe from the fighting as far as they know which is why he intends to send her his soon-to-be wife at some point in the future.

This is a totally fascinating read with great characters and a fantastic storyline. The descriptions are so vivid of the lands and the people populating them. There's the ever stoic Ridge Runner who will surprise you when he does show his feelings. The wild and free Quinn who does as she likes to make the world fit her rather than the other way around, even though it probably can't last forever. The mysterious Jack with the lilt in his voice and an easy smile on his face who can always sneak up on Quinn. You might have to make some leaps of faith in the storyline like when the homestead seems to magically come together and have no problems whatsoever. But the plot goes by so fast that such plot holes can be easily overlooked. While it's a bit of a bodice ripper it's still a historic novel at the same time that illuminates a time, a people, and a place with such precision. I really enjoyed this book and I cannot recommend it enough.

Quotes

“A Duke overpowered by a woman,” Owen scoffed, tucking his hands in the pockets of this jacket and raising a rust colored eyebrow. “Why does he allow his own mother to rule over him?” Grandfather reached out, popped him lightly on the back of the head. “We’re all ruled by women, boy—you’re just too much the bantam rooster to recognize it.”

-Katherine Scott Crawford (Keowee Valley p 281)… (mais)

3.5 stars.

5 stars for readability. This was a thoroughly engrossing, readable novel. I read through it eagerly.
4 stars for descriptions of place. I felt completely drawn into Quinn's world in the pre-Revolutionary Carolina wilderness. I could completely visualize it.
3 stars for characterization. On the plus side--the main characters were likable, sympathetic people. On the negative, I felt that their motivations and thoughts were shallow and often unrealistic for the people they were and the times they lived in. I craved more depth.
2 stars for the last 1/4 of the book. I felt that the ending--and the short path to it--made little sense.

However, for a first novel, it was pretty darn good. I would like to see more books from this author.… (mais)

It is clear from the often poetic descriptions of the South Carolina landscape, that the author has a deep love of the place. However, I would have loved to see a little less of these sometimes lengthy descriptions and a little more character and/or plot development. The first half of the story is a little slow moving with all of these scenic descriptions and I kept waiting to hear more about the characters. I particularly felt that something was lacking in the early development of Quinn and Jack's relationship.

I understand that the author left the ending more open for future books, but it was a little too open for my taste. I felt the ending lacked the closure that I usually need from my books.

It's difficult to read this book and not compare it to [b:Into the Wilderness|72854|Into the Wilderness (Wilderness, #1)|Sara Donati|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320395200s/72854.jpg|3098033], which might be what prevented me from liking this more. For me, character development is the most important part of a book, and where ITW excelled in that, I felt it was a bit lacking in this book.

Still, Keowee Valley presents a debut from a clearly talented author. I will be interested to see how her writing progresses in future books.… (mais)

Author: Katherine Scott
Published by: Bell Bridge Books
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Book Blog For: GMTA
Rating: 5

Review:

"Keowee Valley" by Katherine Scott wonderful, romantic, historical fiction read that turned out to be a amazing good read. This author really knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat with this read and gave you the feeling that you were right there in this read as she has you all caught up dreaming her(Quinn's)way to her ambitions. The descriptions of this South Carolina Blue Ridge area seem to come to life being so beautifully described. The plot of this story was very interesting how this author was able to bring it all together told in first person. Many times I thought this story was going one way then before I knew what was happening it had changed which made this so intriguing. Basically this story was of Quincy(Quinn) MacFadden who"confessing to having been plagued with strange visions(dreams), of which she is positive are omens" and with this Quincy feels that this will help her find her missing cousin, Owen who she had earlier thought had been killed by the 'Shawnee.' Owen has been kidnapped by Indians. So, she decides to leave Charleston and head to the frontier to trade for Owen's life. After arriving in the Appalachians, Quinn is told of a guide named Jackson Wolf who could help her negotiate her cousins freedom.Then this story leads us to Jack Wolf who Quinn employs to track her cousin and then this story takes off from here. We find that Jack is half Cherokee and Irish who also works in the service as a part time translator for the British and a guide and from this he will have some real decisions to make. "With the impending war, Jack is to make a choice: either to be entrusted by the King as a translator, or to commit treason." Now, this is where I say you must pick up "Keowee Valley" to see what all this author will have for the reader. This will be a interesting read on how this author will get this all together for the reader. Be prepared for plenty of action, adventure, romance and the history as it all comes together giving the reader in the end a amazing good and well written read.… (mais)