Book - His Promise True
If you are wanting to get a feel for how life was like back in the early 1800’s in Arkansas (then known as Arkansas Territory), these books are for you! Greta Marlow is wonderful at creating page-turner works of historical fiction! There are currently 3 books in the series that immerse you in the day to day life of a pioneer family that travels to the Arkansas River Valley area of our state.
His Promise True is the first book in the series. You’ll definitely want to pick up the others after you read this one!
Summary:
“Maggie Boon marries John David McKellar for one reason—to escape what is sure to be a life of poverty and despair if she’s forced to marry the man her Pa picked for her on Pine Mountain. She doesn’t love John David any more than he loves her. But at least he has a plan to get their quick marriage annulled and help her find paid work in town so she’ll never have to go back home.
Nothing goes as planned, though, especially once they start to fancy each other. When John David proposes they should stay married, Maggie happily agrees. He promises they’ll leave Tennessee to start a new life together on a grant of free land in Mexican Texas. And he promises that if ever Maggie is miserable with him, he’ll give her that annulment.
Promises made in a cozy loft prove hard to keep on a rough frontier trail. Bad luck and bad choices soon leave them broke and stranded in desolate Arkansas Territory, and Maggie is determined to hold John David to his promise.”
Reader Review:
“I enjoy historical novels, especially the ones featuring time periods and locations with which I am familiar. This one begins in Campbell Co., TN and details the main characters' journey to Dwight Mission, Arkansas Territory in 1823. Marlow has brought us to a time, complete with the grit, smells and trials of poverty, ignorance, and hopeless enslavement. The storyline and historical background of "His Promise True" holds the reader's attention, while entertaining and retaining accuracy. Maggie Boon, the illiterate mountain child and John David McKellar, the well-to-do farmer's son, come through the pages as real persons. Their experiences would be common to most of my ancestors as they moved west in their quest for a better life. I particularly like the effortless humor that sparkled throughout the book. Jane Hicks, the early Cherokee convert to Christianity who is terrified of witches, is a good example of how Ms. Marlow has taken a historical figure and woven a story of warmth and humor to clothe the bare facts. I recommend this book for readers who like to take a trip to the past for enjoyment but don't want to bog down in historical data. There is enough "Cinderella" story to satisfy the romantic but not so much that it gives the reader a sugar-rush.” -Debra
-By Greta Marlow, Hagarville, Arkansas
-Book is signed by author!
-Greta teaches at the College of the Ozarks and co-owns Happy Horseshoe Farm with her husband Jeff.