The year is 1714. Two years have passed since Ruth Hanover vanished into the wilderness of the New Jersey colony without a trace, leaving behind her husband, William, and their daughter, Sarah. Though William and Sarah have never stopped hoping that Ruth will return, as time goes by it becomes less and less likely they will ever see her again.Now William is acting strangely. He won’t tell Sarah … tell Sarah why he’s conducting business with a mysterious stranger in the middle of the night, he won’t explain the sudden increase in his income, and he won’t share with her what people in town are
saying about her mother’s disappearance.
When the time comes for Sarah to face her father’s secrets and figure out why her mother never came home that December day in 1712, what she learns will shock her tiny community on the New Jersey cape and leave her fighting for her life.
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Cape Menace: A Cape May Historical Mystery By Amy Reade is a page-turner that takes American history and draws you into a time where wolves run wild and some are more vicious and deadly than others.
In the first chapter you meet the main character Sarah, a young woman with loving parents whose father runs the local apothecary. He is an herbalist who holds knowledge, diagnoses ailments and creates medicinal remedies like a doctor would without the formal, university education.
Considering how dangerous Cape Menace is, wolves, bears, pirates and the like…someone such as Sarah’s father would be extremely important in any society. It’s amazing that anyone could survive the extremes even with a talented person like him to help with fever, stab wounds from pirate swords and infection.
The era also reflects on the great divide between a woman’s role and a man’s role in a traditional society during the 1700s. There is a constant worry about how a young lady would be portrayed to others if she was seen alone with a man, had a man in her house or even read a book while she ate supper. (The horror!) It seems one more “menace” could be construed as petty gossip and wagging tongues. Literacy, the ability to count money and run a business are all considered to be out of the range of female capability, but Sarah’s parents are change makers and they teach their daughter to read and offer her many important skills necessary to survive on her own.
Well-researched details make the novel historically accurate and also makes me feel fortunate to not have these same limitations put on me now. The language was a breath of fresh air, as it was modernized on purpose solely for the reader’s enjoyment.
I grew up on a farm and enjoyed the realism of early mornings in the barn spent milking cows even on snow days and eggs collected daily for the table.
The mystery unfolds after a terrible tragedy, as more salty characters arrived to stir up trouble and make you wonder what really happened to Sarah’s mother? There are dark secrets and not everyone in this conservative settlement is how they seem.
When you find out what really happened to Ruth you would be shocked at the sheer brutality and the bizarre reasoning behind it. What a twist! I don’t ever do spoilers, so you will have to read. I had an enormous crush on Richard, as I am sure many readers like me will find him dashing and a romantic trope that I never tire of.
If you are interested in American history, you love a good mystery and enjoy complex characters who grow and change…this one will keep you entertained and reading late into the night.
A line in the book I truly enjoyed as it showed old school, versus modern day thinking. Oh the mountains we must climb…
(Mistress Reeves speaking to Sarah.) “ ‘First my father, and then my husband, have always been able to teach me everything I need to know,’ Mistress said. I thought that rather sad, but did not say anything.”
Sarah was a feminist and independent thinker in a time when it could get you in even more hot water than it does now. Just sayin.’
A gentle historical mystery
In the first book of the Cape May series, we are transported back to the year 1714, two years after the disappearance of Sarah’s mother, Ruth, under mysterious circumstances.
Sarah and her father have learned to cope with Ruth’s absence, but have never stopped trying to determine how, or at whose hands, she vanished. When Sarah’s father succumbs to a sudden illness, his deathbed wish to Sarah is that she find out what had befallen Ruth.
It seems incongruous to describe a mystery involving sudden disappearance as a gentle story, yet that is exactly the feeling I had while reading A.M. Reade’s latest work. I fell in love with Sarah almost immediately, and found myself transported back in time to New England’s colonial era.
Reade made me care about what would happen to Sarah, left alone after the disappearance of one parent and the death of the other. I felt as though I was walking next to her as she carried out her daily chores, shared confidences with her friend, and fell in love. I shuddered with her when she was frightened, and I delighted in her romantic awakening.
Cape Menace is more romance than mystery. It is beautifully written, with characters you will care about, and the setting has an authentic feel, both in terms of time and of place. Reade has outdone herself, and I look forward to the next book in this series.
It’s 1714, and Sarah’s mother disappeared two years before from the New Jersey harbor community of Town Bank. Sarah works hard to keep the small family farm going while she apprentices to her father, the village apothecary. At furst, Sarah believes her mother was attacked by wolves (not uncommon in the nearby woods), but soon Sarah learns that one unsavory man had been obsessed over Sarah’s mother and had even threatened her. Sadly, the evil lout has transferred his nefarious attentions to Sarah.
Author Amy Reade has internalized her excellent research so well that she writes about life and struggle in 1714 Cape May as if she lived there herself. Sarah and her world captivated me from page one until the unexpected but satisfying resolution of the mystery. A bonus to the enthralling mystery was a sweet hint that Sarah might find not only a murderer, but also the heroic love of her life. No offensive material.
This would be suitable even for middle grade students of American history, and adults will love it, too. Highly recommended! I will be looking forward to future books in the Cape May Historical Mystery Collection by Amy M. Reade.
One of the things I like about historical fiction is the opportunity to learn facts along the way. This particular story, set a against the back-drop of an apothecary in the early 1700’s, delivered knowledge in a way that was simultaneously interesting and important to the plot. I was fascinated by the beliefs of early healers and the various remedies that they depended on. At many points, I was reading just as much out of personal curiosity as I was to move further in the plot. For me, that’s what historical fiction is all about.
I thought this book, set in 1712 and 1714, was engaging and intriguing. Sarah’s mother goes missing in the first two chapters. Chapter 3 starts the period 2 years later, with no sign of her missing mother. Sarah and her father are still grieving the loss of her mother but they have needed to do the multitude of daily activities to stay alive in a small, but widespread community. And the father owns a small apothecary business, where Sarah is also knowledgable.
When Sarah’s father starts acting strangely, the story gets really interesting. Sarah is left to deal with the household and other issues that arise. She is a very accomplished young woman, although she has doubts about how she handles these situations.
It’s obvious that the author has done her research and she provides a preface that describes the 1714 area that is now known as the Cape May area in NJ. She also provides a brief glossary, which I found useful.
I think this book can be read and enjoyed by young adults and any other reader who enjoys historical novels.
NOTE: I do want to mention that there is a 2 star review on Amazon that contains spoilers. For a mystery and book of intrigue, reading this review would interfere with your enjoyment of the book.
For Sarah, the sudden disappearance of her mamma jarred her world. The searches found no trace or clues, leaving her father and her with an emptiness that is hard to fill. As the years pass, Sarah and her Pappa go on with their lives, caring for their farm and treating the ills of the community with their remedies from their apothecary. The lingering questions of Mamma’s vanishing remain and rumors still swirl–were wolves or a seedy sea captain involved?
Romance is on the mind of one of Sarah’s friends, but is she ready, or willing to commit? A mysterious stranger visits her father during the late evening hours, Sarah wonders who he might be and what is going on between them–is her father hiding a dark secret? When tragedy strikes again, Sarah is determined to get to the truth–but will her inquiries trigger more foul play?
Author Reade takes on us a mysterious journey with a young woman coming into her own, transporting us back in time to her New World settlement. The descriptions and history tie-ins were cleverly revealed. This is the first of a new collection I very much look forward to reading! A #HistFic whodunit–highly recommended!
I enjoyed this book more than I may have words to say! I love reading about life in young America. It has been a favorite time for me since I was a child enchanted by the Little House on the Prairie series. I can remember reading it and begging the librarian for more stories in the 1600-1800 range.
I was intrigued when I saw the cover of the book posted in a Facebook reading group. The title and cover suggested a mystery, perhaps a thriller. I may have an addiction when it comes to those genres. I looked it up and was immediately drawn to the time period.
First off, I totally was taken away to Cape May, to the Town. The author chose to use modern language for the ease of the reader. This did not disturb my flight to the Town at all. It probably helped as sometimes the archaic language can be distracting as you may need to translate words and meanings. I had no problem picturing the house where most of the story takes place nor the Town when it was mentioned. The story gripped my from the opening chapter when we meet Sarah and her mother as they come across a wolf. It continued to hold me with the disappearance of Sarah’s mother. Sarah is the narrator of this book. I hope if this book goes to audio the author chooses someone with a light British accent to be Sarah. Much of the story is of Sarah’s life. Her father runs an apothecary, her mother also knew of healing and so Sarah had much knowledge. She was also taught to read, something that wasn’t encouraged in a girl at that time. We meet her father, her friends Patience and Arthur. We know her heartache at not knowing what happened to her mother. We see her move on but never fully leaving the mysterious disappearance behind. There are other people we meet. A few who raised my suspicions as knowing more than they said about the mystery. The story picks up speed after a second tragedy happens and a promise is made. I was surprised at the reveal.
After the story the author asks the reader to consider leaving a review and to help those who aren’t sure what to write she leaves questions they may or may use. I think it’s a good way to help new review writers think about writing one. I will give a nod to the author and answer one of the questions here. I learned to make a drink from that time period. I am planning to try it using beverages that I believe are close to those back then. I have no “flip-dog” so I will heat and whisk on the stove.
I do recommend this book, especially to those who enjoy mysteries and that time period. I voluntarily reviewed this book because I loved it so much. It is a book I would read again even though I know what happened. It’s one I would definitely love to listen to on audio.