Thursday, July 9, 2009


Finished on 7/8/08:

BOUND by Sally Gunning, 2008.
A thoroughly entertaining and researched novel concerning a girl named Alice Cole, who at 7 years old, arrived in Boston with her father in 1756, after losing her mother and brothers to death while at sea. Her father sells her as an indentured servant to work for Mr. Morton for 7 years, then disappears from her life forever. Morton treats her well, raises her with his own daughter, Abigail. But when Nabby marries Emery Verley, Alice goes with them as a gift, is sexually abused and humiliated by Verley and mistreated by Nabby, and finally runs off, stowing away on a ship in Boston harbor. She ends up in Satucket on Cape Cod, taken in by Widow Berry and Mr. Freeman. The novel explores Alice's further trials and tribulations, including the consequences of running away, an unwanted pregnancy, attraction to the widow's grandson, alleged murder, and the unsettled political climate of the times. Great detail, interesting, informative narrative, an intriguing heroine, and about a topic that is probably often overlooked: indentured slavery. Recommended.

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