Wayfarer by K.M. Wyland

From Amazon:
In this heroic gaslamp fantasy, superhuman abilities bring an adventurous new dimension to 1820 London, where an outlaw speedster and a master of illusion do battle to decide who will own the city.

Think being a superhero is hard? Try being the first one.

Will’s life is a proper muddle—and all because he was “accidentally” inflicted with the ability to run faster and leap higher than any human ever. One minute he’s a blacksmith’s apprentice trying to save his master from debtor’s prison. The next he’s accused of murder and hunted as a black-hearted highwayman.

A vengeful politician with dark secrets and powers even more magical than Will’s has duped all of London into blaming Will for the chilling imprisonments of the city’s poor. The harder Will tries to use his abilities to fight crime, the deeper he is entangled in a dark underworld belonging to some of Georgian England’s most colorful characters.

Only Will stands a chance of stopping this powerful madman bent on “reforming” London by any means necessary. Unfortunately, Will is beginning to realize becoming a legend might mean sacrificing everything that matters.

Wayfarer begins with Will as a young apprentice seeking to rid his master of debt. He's heart-warming, if not a bit foolish at times. While trying to find better paying work, he stumbles across men who believed "the plague" was real. Gossip about unusually gifted or changed people who lived through miracles, it seemed. But Will denies that it exists...until he falls deeper into adventure than he ever dreamed. Adventure called Dr. Silas and Mr. Fitzroy.

Will's family died in the workhouse because his master only managed to save one, Will Hardy. He has plans and goals, but by the end of the book his life has taken on a new purpose and vision, even if it takes a whole adventure to refresh his mind. Will learns that sometimes people beneath your level in life can provide sweet friendship, and sometimes people above his station can give him vision and greater goals. And there are evil people in all ranks of life.

I love Will's relationship with Tom. Because Will grew up with no parents or siblings, Tom was his family and did his best to provide for Will like a father, while also training his apprentice. Indeed it was a task at times and would soon become more overwhelming than Tom probably imagined. Will's friendship with Rose teaches him to care for another in the way he would a younger sister. His protectiveness and Rose's independent ways creates an amusing bond at times. In Will's relationship with Mr. Fitzroy and Mr. Monarch, Will learns how people can be taken advantage of, what loss is, and how at the end of all things your social rank means nothing except that you treat all as equal in God's eyes.

Will unintentionally takes on the qualities of Spiderman (with a few limitations ;), and though charged with murder, he matures into a wiser young man and a good friend and brother. I love the friendship themes throughout this book and the sacrifices made and the character growth of Will were encouraging to read.

River to Redemption by Ann H. Gabhart

From Amazon:
Orphaned in the cholera epidemic of 1833, Adria Starr was cared for by a slave named Louis, a man who stayed in Springfield, Kentucky, when anyone with means had fled. A man who passed up the opportunity to escape his bondage and instead tended to the sick and buried the dead. A man who, twelve years later, is being sold by his owners despite his heroic actions. Now nineteen, Adria has never forgotten what Louis did for her. She's determined to find a way to buy Louis's freedom. But in 1840s Kentucky, she'll face an uphill battle.

Based partly on a true story, Ann H. Gabhart's latest historical novel is a tour de force. The vividly rendered town of Springfield and its citizens immerse readers in a story of courage, betrayal, and honor that will stick with them long after they turn the last page.

I requested this book because the description sounded a little like Uncle Tom's Cabin which I read a long time ago. As one who loves to hear about the abolition of slavery, this book brought other such stories back to mind.

Louis finds Adria at the height of her childhood trauma. As a seven year old, she escaped the death clutches of cholera herself, but was left an orphan. Louis and Matilda were slaves, but they too also escaped cholera and were left to run the hotel when the owner fled. Louis has a memory for faces and takes on the grief-ridden task of burying those who died of the plague. Aunt Tilda and Louis do their best to provide for Adria, but eventually come to the conclusion that racial barriers are still too strong.

Ruth Harmon has her own story in this book. Her husband, the school teacher, dies from cholera and she is left mourning. However, she's asked to step into her husband's shoes and give educational guidance to the town's children. And in the next weeks and months that follow, she's asked by Adria herself to become family to her.

I love the way Louis and Aunt Tilda teach Adria about Jesus, death, and life. It's gentle, but it's real because they've all faced hardship and trauma together. Ruth didn't really know how to be a mother, and perhaps Adria grew up differently than the average family, but they had one another and they made it work. The story fast forwards 12 years in chapter 8 and Adria is making the important decision about marriage. But the death of George Sanderson, the hotel owner, brings life changes to them all once again. Adria is left wondering she can do and how to pursue her passion for the abolition of slavery. Ruth has her own questions about romance, and Louis is a slave in a chaotic and changing time.

This is the fictional story of a real account. Louis dug graves to bury the victims of cholera, and in the end...well, you'll have to read the story and author's note for the conclusion. ;) It's a happily ever after ending, but all the characters learn that weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning.



*Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.