Book Review: "Love's Pursuit" by Siri Mitchell

In the small Puritan community of Stoneybrooke, Massachusetts, Susannah Phillips stands out both for her character and beauty. She wants only a simple life but soon finds herself pursued by the town's wealthiest bachelor and by a roguish military captain sent to protect them. One is not what he seems and one is more than he seems.

In trying to discover true love's path, Susannah is helped by the most unlikely of allies, a wounded woman who lives invisible and ignored in their town. As the depth, passion, and sacrifice of love is revealed to Susannah, she begins to question the rules and regulations of her childhood faith. In a community where grace is unknown, what price will she pay for embracing love?

FINALLY! A book about the Puritans that doesn't involve the Salem Witch Trials! I was so relieved after finishing this book that the subject wasn't even brought up. I just feel like it's just become a stereotype of the Puritans to always include in in every book about that. It was so refreshing to have it not mentioned at all. There were hints of how and why it happened as from the reactions and personalities of the people. However it was just nice to have a different change of topic for these people. The book also gives a great insight into Puritan culture without focusing too heavily on the religious aspect. There's not a lot of doctrine or Biblical rules that one sees in other literature about Puritans. It was also nice to see that famous people were not included in this story, as it gives historical folks a rest from having that dreaded cameo.

I wanted to cry when reading both Susannah and Small Hope's stories. They are both very tragic and just heartbreaking. The story made me mad that this man had so much power over an entire town and no one could do anything about it. However, this story is a wonderful allegory about a savior. I don't want to spoil anything else but that's really what it's about.

The biggest complaint that I have seen so far about the book is that the beginning of the book is difficult to get into and the switching of first person narrators is confusing. I agree with both of these as I found it hard to get into the book at first. It's a bit dry until a few chapters in. Also it's very confusing with no indication of who is narrating at the moment. When the narration first switches from Susannah to Small Hope, I had no idea that a change had taken places until I realized that Susannah was being talked about. Other than this, this truly was an enjoyable book to read. I really like the different perspectives and thoughts given in this novel and it really helped me to understand the Puritans more. This book gives a lot to think about later. HIGHLY recommended.

One more note: I've seen this book classified as an Amish book purely because the girl on the cover looks like she's wearing a kapp. This is NOT an Amish book.

Love's Pursuit by Siri Mitchell is published by Bethany House (2009)