Freedom’s Ring|Book Review

Boston, 2015Two years after nearly losing her life in the Boston Marathon bombing, Annie David is still far from “Boston strong.” Instead she remains isolated and defeated—plagued by guilt over her niece, crippled in the blast, and by an antique ring alongside a hazy hero’s face. But when she learns the identity of her rescuer, will he be the hero she’s imagined? And can the long-past history of the woman behind the ring set her free from the guilt and fears of the present?

Boston, 1770As a woman alone in a rebellious town, Liberty Caldwell finds herself in a dangerous predicament. When a British lieutenant, Alexander Smythe, comes to her rescue and offers her employment, Liberty accepts. As months go by, Alexander not only begins to share his love of poetry with her, but protects Liberty from the advances of a lecherous captain living in the officers’ house where she works.

Mounting tensions explode in the Boston Massacre, and Liberty’s world is shattered as her brother, with whom she has just reunited, is killed in the fray. Desperate and alone, she returns home, only to be assaulted by the captain. Afraid and furious toward redcoats, Liberty leaves the officers’ home, taking with her a ring that belonged to Alexander.

Two women, separated by centuries, must learn to face their fears. And when they feel they must be strong, they learn that sometimes true strength is found in surrender.

Freedom’s Ring is a Christian historical/contemporary duel timeline fiction book. Liberty Caldwell’s story is set in Boston in 1770 while Annie’s story takes place in 2015.

This book was so good. SO good. I mean it! If you’re reading this on my blog, you’ll see that I’ve added a content warning. I want to address that right away and then get to what I loved about this book.

There’s no way to ease into this topic other than to come out and say it. A character in this book suffers from a sexual assault that some readers may take offense to.   As always, given my blog audience, I try to warn about sensitive topics.

Now that disclaimers are out-of-the-way, I want to tell what I loved about this book.  I love flawed characters and this book has several of them to choose from.  First, we have Annie, a victim of the Boston Marathon Bombing.  She was rescued that day by a man who has demons of his own.  On that fateful day, however, he gave to her a ring that he thought would bring her comfort. Little did Annie know, this ring would take her on a journey of self-discovery and redemption.

Life for Liberty Caldwell has taken a dark turn.  The year is 1770 and war is raging.  Liberty, a Patriot, finds herself a servant in the home of a redcoat.   One terrible night, Liberty steals a ring from a young Leutinant—never knowing that this ring would come to play an integral part in her life story.

These characters were hurting, they’d lost faith and endured horrible things.  But, each of these characters found healing in a beautiful and profound way.  Not the kind of fictional grace that takes away every pain and washes it away. Instead, I found this book so beautifully painful and realistic in that each one learned that having Christ doesn’t take away every care. Instead, we place our cares in Him and He shoulders them for us.

I found this book refreshingly realistic.  So many Christian books make it seem as if a character accepts Christ and never struggles with another care. That’s just not realistic and I appreciated that we saw ongoing healing for these characters.  And the author managed this without coming off as overly preachy.

I loved this book and I cannot wait to see what else this author comes out with. I will definitely be keeping an eye on her writing career.

Posted By: Kristin Filed Under: Book Reviews, Heidi Chiavaroli Tagged With: book review, christian fiction, Historical