Hearts and Bones by Margaret Lawrence ISBN: 9780333694183
Series: Hannah Trevor Trilogy #1
Also in this series: Blood Red Roses
Published by Macmillan on August 24, 1997
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 352
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The physical and emotional scars of the Revolutionary War are an important part of this tremendous new first mystery -- the most exciting debut since Laurie R. King and The Beekeeper's Apprentice. Like King's Mary Russell, the heroine of Lawrence's book is an unconventional woman, unwilling to be forced into an historical mold. Hannah Trevor is a gifted, educated midwife who carries wisdom and sorrow with her in equal measures: one husband and three children dead, another daughter born out of wedlock and deaf. When a young woman is raped and murdered, leaving behind a note that implicates her daughter's father, Hannah is the only person in the small Maine town of Rufford with enough insight and experience to uncover the truth.
Characters: 9, I felt like I had a good sense of the main character and all the secondary ones, and that they were distinguishable from one another.
Atmosphere: 9, between the horrors of the Revolutionary War and the frigid desolation of Maine wilderness, this book pulled me in and made me feel a part of the story.
Writing: 9, aside from the redundancy of the term ‘hearts and bones’ used throughout the story, the writing was spot-on. A great balance of description, action, and dialogue; not too flowery but detailed enough to be immersive; great use of limited character perspectives to build tension with the audience.
Plot: 8, the pacing was very good though there was a point where I had to flip back to the first part of the book because I was getting confused about a few things with the parallel story (the primary story is the murder mystery, but the B plot is what happened to five of the characters several years ago during the war).
Intrigue: 9, I just barely figured out the guilty party before Hannah did, and the author led us on a merry chase. The whole concept of the complexity of human beings meaning you can never fully and truly know someone (or yourself, maybe) was both chilling and rang true. And the stamp left by the horrors of war was heartbreaking- something I see dealt with a lot in WWI and WWII fiction, but have never encountered before with Revolutionary War fiction.
Logic: 9, no plot holes that I discovered, though a couple instances of suspiciously convenient things. The characters did indeed act within their own motivations, even when they were lying to themselves about said motivations.
Enjoyment: 10, I really enjoyed this, even though parts were emotionally difficult to read due to the subject matter. I will absolutely be continuing on with the series. I learned some things about American women during that time period, was re-introduced to the horrors of war in a new way, and became invested not only in Hannah but also in several of the secondary characters as well.
*Read for the Orilium Academy Magical Readathon Autumn Equinox
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