Reviews

Available now! Bride Ship Three

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/now-available-in-ebook/bride-ship-three-detail

Reviews of ‘Bride Ship Three’ have started to arrive:

From Freya Rowan Turnbull:

Historical fiction is not a genre I usually read. Neither, I imagine, is it a genre many 15 year olds read.

But having read this book about three courageous young women finding their way in a new and strange country with only each other and some ambiguous male friends for support, I genuinely believe this book will entertain, amuse and enthuse readers of any age and genre to read more and read wider.

Elinor’s sense of dignity and pride must be compromised at times but she marches forth nonetheless and doesn’t allow herself to be bossed around by the men of the town.

Janet, although somewhat naive, finds a unique talent and makes a name for herself in New Derby.

Rosie, ever good at what Rosie does,quickly climbs the ladder of class in her line of work and becomes quite irreplaceable , both in New Derby and in her character.

what struck me about each character is what people they are. They are well portrayed people of their time period, you really get to see what they are like inside. Women of the early Victorian period might always seem to be portrayed as polite and emure, but in this book they really come to life as people I can identify with and understand.

These three women show everlasting practical and emotional support for one another in times of despair and situations of need.

I was slightly afraid of reading this book at first – But it’s not my normal genre! I’m 15, I don’t read about history! What if I don’t like it? What if I just can’tget stuck in and end up not finishing it? what if, what if, what if? but when I started to read, I just couldn’t stop, I was hooked.

I ended up crushing my fears in four days of hours spent with Elinor, Janet and Rosie. I watched them support each other through struggles and mishaps galore, tightening their friendhip all along and coming out the other side together as stronger women bound by bonds of friendship so tight even social class couldn’t break them (and believe me, that stuff mattered back then!)

So whatever your age or reading genre, I fully recommend you read this book. You won’t regret it.

From Nesta Primeau:

It’s not exactly a love story – but Brideship Three explores different kinds of love – awakening physical love, transient love, love between friends and love for sale. It is threaded around the affection that three woman who would never have met while living in Victorian England develop for each other on a difficult voyage.

Val Fletcher Adolph’s historical novel leaves the reader feeling satisfied. There is not a single dull paragraph or moment of dead air as she explores the lives of immigrants facing life in a Canadian riverbank town. Men must face the elements (with plenty of alcohol to fuel their evenings) while women (trying to continue life with the conventions of England) indulge each other with tea in china cups.

The women who share top billing encourage each other to make no-nonsense decisions in colonial Canada. Elinor is an aristocrat who learns to focus on practicalities. With stiff upper lip and rigid posture, she faces the plight of a young family and develops courage to put up with disagreeable smells and dirty hands.

Rosie, the most sensible of the three becomes a successful “business woman”. Janet tends to act on whim but eventually finds her talent and greater maturity.

In 1862 there was a dearth of scientific information. Without a doctor in New Derby, childbirth was risky. Men believed coldheartedly that their wives could somehow influence their baby’s gender – and there were consequences for women who gave birth to girls. No one had heard of post-partum depression; new mothers suffered without diagnosis or treatment.

Perhaps Val’s book could have included a punishment for the clergyman who used the confessional to become sexually aroused. I was hoping for a result that revealed him publically. My blood still boils.

Adolph allows us to hold a tumbler to the wall and overhear conversations of a by-gone era. It might be considered a scandalous revelation but Brideship Three is written with an overlay of innocence in a clear, non-judgmental writer’s voice.