Heather’s Bookshelf: In the Shadow of Gold
Author: Michael Kenneth Smith
Released: 12/1/20
Genre: Historical Fiction
“When he woke, he was alone. His head felt like it was on fire, and he could see out of only one eye. Each time he took a breath, he had a sharp pain in his ribs. He was on his back and surrounded by trees.”
“In the Shadow of the Gold” begins in June 2020 with an introduction to Jonas Arvin, a very wealthy man who has hired someone to investigate the origins of his family wealth. The majority of the rest of the novel takes place back in 1865 at the end of the Civil War and follows two very different people as they make their way through their piece of history.
The first point of view is that of Yancey Arvindale, a young confederate sailor. Yancey hates his job and is more than thrilled to stop sailing with the war coming to an end. He finds himself assigned to guard a train that contains the Confederacy’s Treasury. He soon ends up faced with an opportunity to help himself to some of the riches, an occasion that he can’t pass up.
The second is that of Ellie, a runaway slave who escaped from a terrible situation and befriended another young, pregnant woman along the way. The two women make their way to a safe area before Ellie finds that she still wants something much more for herself. She wants options and choices and finds many other people that want the same things. She ends up organizing her newfound group in order to keep them all alive. It is here that she meets Yancey and their story together begins.
Trigger Warning: Adult language, dark themes, miscarriage, rape, murder
Overall, the story is really interesting. I mean, who doesn’t love a story about stolen or missing treasure! The dual time line and multiple points of view were an interesting way to tell the story and allowed for more insight into the main characters as well. Ellie and Yancey were each very strong characters in their own right. They were from extremely different backgrounds, with different motivations, and different strengths/weaknesses, but each still held their own within the story. The only weak link for me was in the character development of the present timeline. While it was not a major portion of the story telling, it did serve an important role in bringing together some of the key themes of the story. The connection to the past characters just wasn’t there for the present ones and I wish that I would have either liked or disliked them more strongly. I would enjoy reading more historical fiction by this author and think that it really will make a great screenplay.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A story about treasure, the ending of the civil war, and two worlds coming together.
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