Friday, 22 February 2019

A Discovering Diamonds review of The Loyalist Legacy Elaine Cougler


"I found their [the Garner family] story fascinating for the very reason that, despite this being a series of novels, thanks to Ms Cougler's writing skill, it all seemed so believable and  real."

AMAZON UK
The Loyalist Trilogy Book 3


Fictional Saga
1800s
Canada

"After the crushing end of the War of 1812, William and Catherine Garner find their allotted two hundred acres in Nissouri Township by following the Thames River into the wild heart of Upper Canada. On their valuable land straddling the river, dense forest, wild beasts, displaced Natives, and pesky neighbors daily challenge them. The political atmosphere laced with greed and corruption threatens to undermine all of the new settlers’ hopes and plans. William knows he cannot take his family back to Niagara but he longs to check on his parents from whom he has heard nothing for two years. Leaving Catherine and their children, he hurries back along the Governor’s Road toward the turn-off to Fort Erie, hoping to return home in time for spring planting."

Spanning several years The Loyalist Legacy continues the stories of this interesting family as told in The Loyalist's Wife and The Loyalist Luck. Need you have read the other two to enjoy this third part? Not necessarily but I would suggest you do for this is, indeed, a sweeping saga of people who could have been real and of how real people reacted to and lived alongside real situations. The Garner family were patriots (loyal to the British Crown) during the American Revolutionary War (known as the War of Independence here in the UK) and I found their story fascinating for the very reason that, despite this being a series of novels, thanks to Ms Cougler's writing skill, it all seemed so believable and  real. I also found it enjoyable to read about Canada for a change!

I also found the political upheaval of the aftermath of this bitter war to be most engrossing. Just how did families (on both sides) manage to get on with their lives after such turmoil - the winning of the war by the American Colonies must have created great difficulties for both winners and losers. I am deeply reminded of the present chaos of Brexit! The polarisation of those 'for' and those 'against', the bitterness on both sides, the uncertainty... followed by the fears, the hopes, the every-day struggle to carry on despite what Life throws at you. 

I read an e-pub version for review, which did have a few formatting issues, but I suspect these were technical issues at my end, and not a true indication of the actual book.

Very enjoyable.

© Anne Holt




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3 comments:

  1. The author is Elaine Cougler; not Couglar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Helen, both for amending the spelling and for running this amazing site for authors' books. You are the best!

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