Ewan is lonely too and the connection he forms with Marlie is powerful, even if neither can act on it. I wondered if he might be high functioning on the Autism scale because of how his mind seemed to work. He has powerful skills of observation and ways of making people talk.

However, he believes himself to be a sociopath because of what he did on behalf of the Union Army. Let me tell you: their banter was on fire!Įwan is a tortured soul and I found him to be intelligent and kind. They have a meeting of the minds, scribbling thoughts and opinions into the pages of books they pass back and forth. Marlie regularly visits the prison to aid the sick and bring what's essentially a lending library. Marlie is also a part of the Loyal League, passing along information to the Union Army. Marlie's sister Sarah is an abolitionist and the women are a part of the Underground Railroad. She may have the Lynch name but she doesn't have the same freedoms as her white sister. She doesn't fully belong in either place and I think this is why she throws herself so fully into her studies and improving how she makes her remedies. She's torn between the ways of her mother and the ways of the white world she now finds herself in. Marlie was fiercely intelligent and compassionate. Whether Marlie was preparing plants to make a poultice or diagnosing someone's malady, I loved every part of the story that dealt with her abilities as a healer. When she goes to live with her white family at the Lynch plantation, she's introduced to science and more modern beliefs about medicine. Marlie was raised by her formerly enslaved mother, a root worker, and learned how to make herbal remedies, along with the superstitions. Although you should totally still read it.) ( An Extraordinary Union is Malcolm's story but you don't need to read it first. Discovering her writing this year has been an absolute gift and I was delighted her latest novel exceeded my expectations.Ī Hope Divided introduces us to Marlie, a freed biracial woman, and Ewan, an escaped prisoner of the Confederate and also Malcolm's brother. If all historical fiction was as excellent as Alyssa Cole's The Loyal League series is, I would read much more historical fiction.

A Hope Divided (The Loyal League #2)- Alyssa Cole

A Hope Divided by Alyssa Cole