 to the historical narrative and that each story was as strong as the other. Great suspenseful endings of each chapter spurred me to read on. I really want to know what would happen to both Sarah and Eden. I loved both of their stories about women trying to find themselves in the world they were living.
I had never thought about John Brown’s children or family he left behind. Sarah Brown is a real historical person and I found her story to be intriguing. I especially loved how she did know many of the famous people of the day including the Alcott family. I found her relationship with Freddy and the Hill family to be especially poignant.
I also loved the mystery of Eden’s house and its history. As she discovers clues, the past also gives you answers to what it could be all about. I love old houses so this was particular intriguing to me.
I thought it was very interesting that the novel was titled The Mapmaker’s Children, when in fact, the main problem for both heroines in their inability to have any children. Through their actions though, they are able to make a difference in the lives of many children. For women, it is interesting how the inability to have children can define you and could cast a negative shadow on the rest of your life. I loved how Eden and Sarah were able to move beyond that and make a difference with their lives.
There is a great reader’s guide at the end of the novel with more information that I enjoyed perusing. I particularly loved the author’s note about the real Sarah Brown.
My inner Jane Austen fan loved this quote, “She shook her head. Of course he’d say that. It was the proper Mr. Knightly thing to say. He had to say it, right?” This is Eden talking with her brother about her problems with Jack.
First line of the novel, “The old house on Apple Hill Lane shuddered against the weighty snow that burdened its pitch.”
Last line, “Within the house, a dog barked a welcome as the Hills escorted the twins down the brick pathway lined with forget-me-nots and ruby balsams, still blooming in the unconventionally warm winter months.”
I love how the novel starts with the house seeming old, abandoned and covered with snow in the gloom of winter and ends with it open, welcoming, with flowers still blooming.
Overall, the Mapmaker’s Children is an excellent historical fiction and contemporary novel about women finding their place in the world during trying times.
Book Source: Review Copy as a part of the TLC Book Tour. Thank-you! Tour stops are located at this link.
About The Mapmaker's Children• Paperback: 336 pages • Publisher: Broadway Books (February 9, 2016) Have you ever wondered if your decisions could change the course of history? Questioned whether or not bad things happen for a reason? In Sarah McCoy's THE MAPMAKER'S CHILDREN: A Novel (in paperback February 9, 2016), two women's lives are inextricably linked as they struggle through personal conflicts and wade through mysterious secrets. As the chapters alternate between these two commanding female protagonists, the reader must redefine courage, family, and destiny alongside these two remarkable women. Sarah Brown, the fiercely independent daughter of abolitionist John Brown, is a talented artist in 1860s West Virginia. When Sarah discovers that she cannot bear children, she turns her skills toward helping others and becomes one of the foremost mapmakers for the Underground Railroad. Taking cues from Slave Quilt codes, she hides maps within her paintings as the United States moves toward a bloody civil war. Over one hundred and fifty years later, Eden Anderson, a modern-day woman struggling to conceive a child, moves into an old house in West Virginia as a last-ditch effort to save her marriage and start a family. When she stumbles across part of an old porcelain doll in the root cellar, Eden slowly uncovers a dramatic connection to the Underground Railroad. McCoy, whose novel The Baker's Daughter was a nominee for the 2012 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction, spent three years researching the Brown family history. This research became 