When a young woman travels from a British factory town to South Carolina in the 1840s, she becomes involved with a vigilante abolitionist and the Underground Railroad while trying to navigate the complexities of Charleston high society and falling in love.
I enjoyed this historical Novel. The novel takes place before the US Civil war in South Carolina. Abigail has been sent to SC to live with an old friend of the family after her family falls on hard times. When she arrives she must learn how to navigate in society and romance. Her benefactor is involved in the underground railroad and abolitionists and they decide to face the danger together. The author does a very good job with the historical background and the Charleston setting. The characters are well developed. The book is a quick easy read. I was a little disappointed in the ending and it seemed rushed. Enjoy
I was rather disappointed with this book. It was more cliché romance than historical fiction. Throughout the entire read I was wanting the story to be tighter and the characters to be more developed. This was a quick read, though.
this book was very educational about the south, the way of life manners & mores, the underground railroad, abolitionists, and the way the slaves & slave-owners lived. This
book had all of that and an interesting love story. I throughly enjoyed this story & also learned a few things about American history.
I loved this book and missed the characters when it ended.
Trouble the Water, Jacqueline Friedland’s first book, is presented to us as an historical novel. The setting is Charleston, South Carolina, fifteen years before the outbreak of the Civil War. We meet Douglas Elling, an Englishman who is running a shipping company but who is secretly an abolitionist helping slaves north along the Underground Railroad. His wife and daughter died in a terrible fire, and as a consequence, he is a wounded and angry soul. Also wounded and angry is his ward, Abby Milton, sent to America to stay with Elling on his estate. She is escaping a life of poverty in the English mills as well as a predatory uncle. We also meet, and are subjected to, the arrogant and spoiled life of the slave-owning upper class in Charleston ruling the South at that time.
Much of the first third or so of this book reads more like a history text than a novel. The writing is flat and there is little plot development. There are too many time shifts and too many characters with too many points of view. Questions arise that are never adequately answered. After this first third, the book changes into a classic example of a historical romance with two characters (Douglas and Abby) falling in love, having a huge and very predictable misunderstanding, and Douglas spending much of the remainder of the novel tracking Abby down and trying to convince her to love him as he loves her. He is successful, of course. (HEA)
The reason I’m giving this book four stars instead of a lower rating is due to the last pages of the book, the Epilogue. Earlier in the book, we learn that Elling assisted in the escape of a very pregnant runaway slave named Clover on her trek north to Canada. We read rather briefly about her escape midway through the book, and then we hear no more about her until the final pages of the book. The Epilogue is exquisitely written, full of compassion and feeling and, as a result, is very moving. My hope is that Jacqueline Friedland learns to inhabit the writer who wrote the Epilogue to Trouble the Waters. If so, she’ll become a superb writer.
Somehow I was expecting more from this book. It was good enough to finish but I’ve already forgotten it
Abby Milton arrives in Charleston, SC in 1842 to be cared for by a widower, Douglas Elling, who was a friend of her father’s growing up in England. Both Abby and Douglas carry baggage from troubling pasts (she sexual abuse from Uncle Matthew, he guilt over the death of his wife and daughter because of his reputation as an abolitionist). Abby had been living in the Liverpool slums of Wigan, so her transition into a young society woman is difficult, especially since she has to navigate the duplicity and backbiting. Underlying each stage of the book is the theme of the changing South and the waves caused by a growing abolitionist movement. The character dev and plot are both well done.
Not really about the underground railroad. More of a rather silly love story.
Interesting historical fiction set in the South and Charleston during the time of the underground rail road and abolition.
I enjoyed this story set in mid-1800’s America. Such a different culture and lifestyle than today’s. I’m always interested in stories that inform about slavery and the efforts of many who work in the stories to relieve the suffering of slaves. This is a novel, but I hope there really were people who risked everything to bring slaves to freedom.
Predictable.
The females in the story were just too “over the top.” I started it because I live in Charleston. After a couple of chapters, I lost interest. The description of the settings was nice but…..
I liked it. I enjoyed the epilogue but I would have wanted to know the future of the main characters as well.
This is an historical novel that takes place in the mid 1840’s in Charleston, S.C.. The main character is an abolitionist living among wealthy slave holders. It is a fascinating look at the lives of the rich and the heartbreaking lives of the slaves. It follows a slave who makes a break for freedom on the Underground Railroad and the life of a poor factory girl from England who is brought to Charleston to escape her miserable life at home and to live under the protection of her Father’s friend. It is also involves the process of grief, it’s affects on us and healing from it.
I liked this story. It had a steady cadence and kept me reading and turning pages. There was intense drama without it being too much or too vivid.
Historical fiction at its best! Don’t miss it!
We meet Abby who is from a middle class British family and when her family struggles with debt, they send her to America to live off of the charity of an old friend named Douglas. She’s not sure what to do with herself and finds herself miserable. One day she overheard a conversation from Douglas making plans for the escape of a local slave and becomes immediately curious. She isn’t quite sure she knows who Douglas really is…
Reasons to pick this one up:
1. The variety of characters in this book were a complete thumbs up for me they were well developed and all so interesting.
2. Historical Fiction. If you like this genre, this is a must read due to the in-depth research the author did to make it seem like you just time traveled and are right along side with the other amazing characters.
3. This was a hard book to set down. I hated to have to pause due to being so involved in the story. I was very much hooked! The Charleston setting was spectacular.
4. The book is based in Charleston 20 years before the Civil War that tells the story about slavery and the Underground Railroad and the love and passion for assisting others found in between those difficult times. I was captivated.
Good read, but the author spend a bit too long on the female main character’s denial of love. Otherwise, good.
very abrupt (premature) conclusion.
Trouble the Water is an intriguing debut novel! Poverty stricken Abby is sent to America by her parents to live as the ward of wealthy fellow Englishman, Douglas. As Abby struggles to adjust to her new life in America, she discovers a secret of her guardian. I was pulled in from the first page by Abby’s story. Jacqueline Friedland expertly weaves Charleston’s society, the Underground Railroad and romance. I can’t wait to read her next book!