Customer Reviews

Frontiersman's Daughter, The: A Novel

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Frontiersman's Daughter, by Laura Frantz, 2007, Revell, 412 pages.
This historical Christian fiction book is set in Kentucky (as well as partially in Virginia) during the American Revolution. Frantz's protagonist, Lael, is the daughter of a well (and widely) known frontiersman who had been a captive of the Shawnees. A nearby fort is named after her father and Lael and her family take refuge there as the need arises, which is often. During her father's captivity, she was left in the care of another family at the fort and grows to care for their oldest son. This young man fails to win her father's approval. Lael finds her heart struggling when a Shawnee adopted warrior pursues her.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed, believable, and each had a distinct voice. Ms. Frantz seamlessly weaves a treasure trove of historical information into the story. Frantz doesn't shy away from the extreme difficulties in living on the frontier but she also doesn't dwell on horrifying violent details, as some recent historical fiction books have done. Lael's journey to become a Christian is also believable.
This book appeals to so many types of readers that to categorize it as historical Christian fiction with romantic elements would leave out other big chunks of the reader market. For instance, this is really a coming of age novel; granted the young woman is coming of age on the frontier in colonial times. Another recent historical (secular) novel was of a young doctor at school during the Civil war. That coming of age novel was about a very self-absorbed shallow young man who seems to change very little despite all of the differences going on all around him. In contrast, Leil is a likeable, deep, independent (while being connected to others) young woman who grows more so over the course of the novel.
The male characters are so strong that a man with an interest in frontier history should be satisfied. This is not a cookie-cutter stereotypical interpretation of women and men of the colonial frontier. Ms. Frantz also does a good job of giving a more rounded picture of Native Americans during that time.
I dreaded reaching the end of this book because then it would be over. It is my new favorite book and I intend to re-read it and to also get it an audio version when it becomes available. My friends and family members will be receiving copies of this book for Christmas!

This book took my interest just from the title and I bought it immediately. I love history and this book is a very well researched novel dealing with early American history. Lael Click is the daughter of a well known frontiersman in Kentucky, sort of like Daniel Boone, when we first meet her at age 13. Her father has been a captive of the Shawnee Indian tribe, one of whom would like to make Lael his own. Her father sends her away to a Virginia finishing school to remove her from this Indian's attentions. When she receives words several years later that her father has drowned, she decides she is going to live as a frontier woman because she is happier here than anywhere else. This novel is rich with historial detail of the daily lives of settlers on the American frontier. She also develops her characters so well that you feel you know them. I felt as if I could hear the creek singing and smell the flowers as Lael rode along the hollows and valleys with her herbal remedies for the settlers' ailments. She relationship between Lael and the new doctor, Ian Justus, is absolutely amazingly told and just exceptional. The small pox scare is so well written, I could feel the heat of the block house and smell the odor of death, as she describes the pain and anguish of the settlers who lost their lives and loved ones. Lael's journey to acceptance of Christ is also well described in this book.
The book is shelved with Christian fiction but it also deserves a place in literature and history as well.
Do not pass this one up. You will not regret it. I am eagerly looking forward to another book by Laura Frantz

With her first book, Laura Frantz has carved herself a spot alongside the likes of Julie Lessman, Jamie Carie and Tamera Alexander.

Captivated immediately by the resolute young Lael, struggling with her father's hidden past with the Shawnee Indians and her mother's indiscretion, I was entranced as the story of her fractious journey to womanhood is revealed with beautiful prose and heartfelt emotion. Lael, Captain Jack, Ian Justus and Ma Horn are multi faceted, intriguing characters as are each of the inhabitants of the small Kentucky settlement. As they face the trials and fears living on the frontier engenders, tragedies strike, feuds erupt and hearts are torn, your own emotions will run the gamut with them. Laura's attention to historical detail is excellent and sets this book apart from many in the genre. Yet it is Lael, and the man who pursues her so tenderly as she cautiously ventures towards faith and love, that truly make this a book to savour.

The Frontiersman's Daughter has guaranteed Laura Frantz's future stories a place on my bookshelves!

The Frontiersman's Daughter by Laura Frantz is a stunning debut novel, a completely absorbing tale of a young girl's coming of age in the wilds of late eighteenth century Kentucky. Lael Click's story reawakened my love of this time period in history, an appreciation that had fallen by the wayside when I finished my last required U.S. history class in high school. It doesn't help that in recent years, the Christian fiction market didn't seem to have all that much room for colonial frontier fiction. Frantz's debut has succeeded in establishing her as a welcome voice in the genre. Daughter is so absorbing, it immediately transported me back in time to memories of my fascination with the adventures of frontiersmen such as Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. It's impossible for me not to marvel at stories of those first settlers who left civilization in the east to build lives for themselves across the mountains, where they had to combat the Indians and the land itself in order to carve out new lives for themselves.

Lael Click grew up in the shadow of her famous father's legend, the man who survived living with the Shawnee for two years. The celebrated frontiersman always seemed more at home in the wilderness, among the feared Shawnee, than as a settlement resident. No matter what role her family or friends tried to make her fill, Lael is too much "her father's daughter" to ignore the pull of wilderness life, and with the help of Ma Horn, she establishes herself as a healer well versed in herb lore. Her search for place and contentment is complicated by the attentions of three very different men - the now-married rogue she once loved when a young girl, the exotic attraction of Captain Jack, a white man raised as a Shawnee and friend of her father's, or the gentle Scottish doctor, whose skill makes them ideal partners and whose faith makes her long for a living, breathing relationship with the God of her childhood. Only when Lael learns to step out in faith, and lay aside the wounds of her past, will she be able to embrace the future and live out her father's legacy of fearlessness.

I'd describe Daughter as a "throwback" novel in the very best sense of that term. This is a rich, "meaty" historical, brimming with atmosphere and detail that vividly brings life to all of Lael's triumphs and struggles. This also isn't a very dialogue-driven book, and in that respect it reminded me just a bit of classics such as The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. The introspective passages not only give wonderful insight into Lael's maturing character, but through them I think Frantz very accurately gives one a sense of the solitary, and potentially very lonely, nature of frontier life. Indeed, the land itself becomes almost as much of a character as Lael- and thanks to Frantz's evocative, richly drawn descriptions, it's easy to understand the pull of the land and how it's beauty and wildness shaped Lael's character. More than a romance, more than an adventure story, The Frontiersman's Daughter is a journey worth savoring, and Lael Click is a character who will dwell in your thoughts long after you finish the final pages.

I feel like I can't complain too much about this book because it was free and for that price, it wasn't a half bad book, especially for Christian fiction. It dealt with some grittier issues and the characters felt fresh and real. The plot even varied from a lot of the other Christian fiction that I have read. It wasn't solely focused on romance or theology. I enjoyed reading about this time period. The book grabbed me enough to read it in one sitting. Although the story got a little preachy at the end, it was very light handed compared to a lot of other Christian fiction books. I especially loved how the author incorporated Christianity in the first half of the book.

That being said, I feel like the author used some tired Christian fiction elements in her story. I start rolling my eyes now when I read about "believers" falling in love with "non-believers" --And that happened toward the end of this book.-- It's very cliche in Christian fiction. I also found the brand of Christianity in this book a little unrealistic to what it was most likely like at the time. It seemed to have a lot of modern Christian beliefs that wouldn't have been around in 18th century Kentucke. I also would have enjoyed the book more if I would have liked Lael (the main character) better. I didn't hate her but I did frequently get annoyed with her. She seemed very self-centered and weak at times. Weak may seem like a funny word comparing how often she did brave things, but she ran away or reflected about running away from her problems too much for my taste and she needed a sense of humor. In addition, sometimes her bravery bordered on just being plain stupid (i.e. when she was tired of being in the fort when there's a BATTLE going on outside of it). Although I really enjoyed and fell in love with who she ends up with at the end. I also thought that the Indian part of the storyline grew more and more unrealistic as the book went on and I felt that some characters were dropped without proper closure.

Overall, this wasn't a bad read and I think this author has a lot of promise. If anything, this book raised my respect for Christian fiction and I hope more Christian fiction books come out like this one.

A well researched entertaining fictional biography of the struggles of a young woman in Kentucke. It made me tired thinking of all the work they did back then, but greatful that I live now. If you at all like historical fiction this is another good read for you. The honest description of the white and native conflict was especially well-treated. And now I think I've added Kentucky on my list of places I must visit due to the beautiful descriptions of the country.

I really enjoy this author's writing and the way it draws you in. The story line was great but the ending left me unsatisfied as I felt the author had dropped some storylines in perhaps, an attempt to end the story in just one book. I wanted to know so much more about Lael's father's secrets and it also felt like the intriguing Captain Jack was dropped for Ian with no apparent reason - don't get me wrong, Ian is a great character but I kept waiting for Captain Jack to reappear and for the attraction between Lael and Captain Jack to be more defined or explained, something! I would recommend this book as a great read and I think I will actually enjoy it more the second time around as I won't be expecting to understand some parts of the drama that unfolds. Another small irritation - why suggest the possibility of Lael's father possibly faking his death if it is not going to be explored further or something come of it??

What a moving and beautifully written story. The descriptions are so vivid, I could smell and taste the food they ate, hear the crunch of leaves beneath my feet. I felt the love the heroine had for her home and for "the men" in her life. The turmoil she went through. The losses she suffered. The fears she faced.
You have to be patient for the tender love story, but it is so beautifully developed, it will have been well worth the wait! I adored the "leading man".
Not only a touching romance, but a story of redemption and of God's love. Can't wait to read this author's next novel!

I recently had the privilege and pleasure of reading (or I should say devouring!) one of the best books I have read in years. The Frontiersman's Daughter by Laura Franz is a debut novel that seems anything but. Seldom has a historical romance captured me like this one--gorgeous prose, flesh-and-blood characters who haunt you long after the last page, and a plot so unique and compelling, I spent most of my time with a sagging jaw. As a historical author myself, I appreciate novels like this where the setting is so well researched and written, that it almost becomes another character, deep and richly drawn. And the romantic tension? Sigh ... it's some of the best in Christian romance today, rivaling the likes of Liz Curtis Higgs and Francine Rivers, in my humble opinion. I suggest we all keep an eye on Laura Frantz--she's not just a rising star in the Christian market, but a shooting star who will go straight to the top.

I was hooked from the opening paragraph. Laura Frantz paints a vivid picture of Lael's first encounter with the Shawnee and leaves the reader with an indelible impression of just what kind of woman Lael Click will be. This is a story of the frontier life we don't see very often in published books. The life of the first settlers who ventured outside of the 13 colonies. We begin to see how the conflict between the Indian nations and the Americans grew to a head and led to the future Indian wars in the west. How settlers perceived anyone from outside their little world of frontier life. Laura Frantz takes us inside the daily existence of these settlers, how they lived, loved, and adapted to the lack of modern conveniences. How the horrors of sickness could wipe out a settlement. And what the frontier men and women did to survive by living off the land.

We grow with Lael, as she moves from childhood into a young woman who craves the home her father carved out of a wilderness. And watch as she comes to the realization that her life can be more than revenge and separation. That God's hand moves in everything.

This is an outstanding book for debut author Laura Frantz and I welcome the next book with open arms.