Customer Reviews

Mary's Land

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am an avid reader of historical biographies both fictional and non fictional. I found this book to be a treasure trove of information and details of live in a very young America. If you want to get a feel for the type of people that started this country this is a must read book. I highly recomend.

"Mary's Land" is a colorful and detailed novel of a time at the beginning of Europeans' migration to the New World. Robson's novel puts the reader into the thick of the action from the long journey on a small ship to the taming of the frontier. The characters are people you care about. You cheer them on when they find success and cry for them when they don't. Wonderful to see it back in print.

Mary's Land brings the old pages of history to life and makes the people live and breathe - Another of Lucia St. Clair Robson's "can't put down books" - and as soon as I've finished I want more - her facts are always correct and she has a wonderful feel for putting them into words that create pictures in the soul.

This book, about the founding of Maryland by a Catholic community makes you feel like you are right there in the thick of things. This novel is based on real people, real events and then the author fills out the story with well researched period details.

The story moves quickly and the characters are those that you end up caring deeply about.

Since I was born and raised in Maryland, I found this historical fiction book about the founding of Maryland fascinating.

Lucia's character development is top notch, the language is authentic without being tiresome. A wonderful story and read.

I recently visited historic St. Mary's City and then decided to pull this book off my shelf and give it a second chance. ( I found it a slow read on my first attempt.) I really enjoyed the detail and the fact that the author remained accurate as to the setting, culture, language etc. Since I visited the city I could easily picture everything she talked about in the novel. Unfortuneately,the story moved too slow and the characters could have been developed better. I have enjoyed other books by this author but I might have left this one on the shelf if I had not toured the setting site. Still Slow!

It is hard to get through this book and get to know the characters well. Robson puts massive amounts of historical and visual details in her book and doesn't develop the characters well. Also, their speech, although probably accurate for the time frame, makes it difficult to read as well. If you want to paint a picture of this time, read the book, but if you want a story, pass over this one.

Robson writes a vivid and colorful description of life in the seventeenth century. She provides details of the Bristol waterfront, Catholic persecution, Atlantic Ocean passage and life in early America. Her characters are flawed but easy to love. Unfortunately the story unravels three quarters of the way through and confuses the reader with the facts of early Maryland history.

Robson writes a vivid and colorful description of life in the seventeenth century. She provides details of the Bristol waterfront, Catholic persecution, Atlantic Ocean passage and life in early America. Her characters are flawed but easy to love. Unfortunately the story unravels three quarters of the way through and confuses the reader with the facts of early Maryland history

I loved RIDE THE WIND and other books by this author, but this one is a struggle for even a history lover to read. I appreciate the exhaustive research she obviously put into the book, but the details obscure the characters and make the novel dull, dull, dull. Unless there are well-developed characters, all the earthy language and descriptions of customs in the 17th century won't make an interesting book. This was supposed to be a historical NOVEL, wasn't it?