"Great historical fiction"

In 1812 half-breed widow Hannah returns to the home of her father Nathaniel and step-mother Elizabeth following the deaths of her husband and their child. Nathaniel, Elizabeth, and Hannah's Aunt Many-Doves can see she has lost the spirit to live. Still, Hannah is a gifted healer and she brings hope and health to the needy of Paradise. This provides her with some solace and the beginnings of her own healing from the tragedy that has left her feel alone even amongst loved ones.

Although war seems imminent between America and England making oceanic passages dangerous and difficult, recently widowed Jennet, a distant cousin, arrives from Scotland. The recent deaths of their respective husbands does not provide a link between Hannah and Elizabeth as the latter refuses to discuss her tragedy while the former acknowledges relief following the end of her loveless marriage. Meanwhile Hannah's stepbrother eighteen-year- old Daniel joins the American militia, but becomes a prisoner of war. Only Hannah can set him free bit she must first liberate herself from her grief.

FIRE ALONG THE SKY is a deep look at the impact that the War of 1812 had on Americans who were somewhat distant from the front, but effected by loved ones joining the fight. The story line is character driven especially by the courage of several of the women, but mostly Hannah who serves as the center that keeps the complex tale together. Fans of James Fennimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales will appreciate this powerful Americana novel.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted August 28, 2004

Summary

With epic sweep and breathtaking adventure, Sara Donati's bestselling saga of an Early American family's struggle for survival in the Northeast wilderness continues with the story of an indomitable woman and an unforgettable journey of redemption across a young nation threatened by the flames of war. The year is 1812 and Hannah Bonner has returned to her family's mountain cabin in Paradise. But Nathaniel and Elizabeth Bonner can see that Hannah is not the same woman as when she left. For their daughter has come home without her husband and without her son...and with a story of loss and tragedy that she can't bear to tell. Yet as Hannah resumes her duties as a gifted healer among the sick and needy, she finds that she is also slowly healing herself. Little does she realize that she is about to be called away to face her greatest challenge ever. As autumn approaches, news of the latest conflict with Britain finds the young men of Paradise—including eighteen- year-old Daniel Bonner—eager to take up arms. Against their better judgment, Nathaniel and Elizabeth must let him go, just as they must let his twin sister Lily, a stubborn beauty, pursue her independence in Montreal. But on the eve of the War of 1812, an unexpected guest arrives from Scotland: It is the Bonners' distant cousin, the newly widowed Jennet Scott of Carryckcastle. Far from home, Lily and Jennet will each learn the price of pursuing their dreams and the possibility of true love. But it's Hannah herself who must risk everything once more— this time to save Daniel, who's been taken prisoner by the British. As the distant thunder of war threatens Paradise, Hannah may learn to live—and maybe love—again in one final act of courage, duty, and sacrifice. A gifted writer, a master storyteller, and a first-rate historian, Sara Donati has written a powerful, poignant, and movingly romantic novel that chronicles the lives and adventures of a family as compelling and unforgettable as any in American fiction.