Challenge the Wind
It is 1777, Philadelphia is held by the British, American troops suffer myriad hardships, and near Saratoga, New York, the Lloyd family farm is taken over by British deserters. Sarah Lloyd and her youngest children struggle to survive as hostages, while their main captor, Matthew Smith, struggles with his own loyalties. In Philadelphia, Sarah’s daughter Molly, in her Loyalist uncle’s household, must control her own feelings concerning the war and a handsome British officer. On the nearby battlefield, Molly’s Patriot father and her twin brother Adam undergo pain and death from injuries and disease. Wooden characters, contrived situations, modern-sounding dialogue, and annoying typos (e.g., “mop cap” instead of “mobcap”) combine for an uninvolving novel.
