Book Review ~ The Seeker

"The Seeker" by Ann H. Gabhart


Charlotte Vance is the daughter of a Kentucky Senator and has big plans for her life.  Raised in privilege, she is used to having black slaves on their estate to do the family's bidding and do the work of the estate.  After her mother passed away, Charlotte became her father's helper in planning the parties his job required and in essence became the lady of the house.  So her heart was really with the estate and it's continuation and growth.  Her plans were to marry her childhood friend who had the property next to theirs so that the estates could be combined, but those come abruptly to an end when several circumstances, including meeting a handsome artist who stole her heart, the unscrupulous machinations of her father's new wife, as well as  a life changing decision on the part of her fiance, combine to derail all her well laid plans.  In a desperate attempt to free her personal slave who was like a sister to her, Charlotte ran away to join the Shaker community. Thinking her involvement with the Shakers was a quick and temporary fix to her problems, those plans also got thrown into a tailspin when the Civil war hit and moved right through their community.  Now Charlotte must stay with the Shakers much longer than planned and while there she starts to realize who really is in control of her life and whose plans are the best.

I really enjoyed this story.  It is rich in character development and historical detail.  I never knew anything about the Shakers before I read this and the author did a wonderful job in weaving details of their beliefs into the story while not making it sound like a text book lesson.  I could totally relate to the main character and her  being a planner and committed to making those plans work and then having to face the fact that we, actually are not in control.  This was a great summer read and I'm going to look for the other titles by the same author.