Burning Sky: A Novel of the American Frontier

When Willa Obenchain was fourteen years old, she was abducted by Mohawk Indians and renamed Burning Sky. Now she's come home to the village she once knew, to the land and homestead of her parents. Love and grief have changed her in the last twelve years, and the American Revolution has altered forever both the Mohawk community she left and the white community she's returning to. Willa has a plan: to live alone for the rest of her days, strong enough to resist love and therefore hurt. But her brother Tames-His-Horse wants her to return with him to their People. The man she finds injured on her land, Scottish botanist Neil MacGregor, wants to help her restore the home of her parents. Childhood friends and new enemies add to the tug-of-war show more over her heart. Willa isn't sure she belongs. Anywhere.

Yes, the bones of Willa's story have been told before. A white child abducted by Indians, raised as one of the People, returning home to suspicion and prejudice. A woman scarred by life, choosing to shut her heart away rather than feel its broken edges. A man who falls in love with her, seeing past all her walls no matter how high she builds them, speaking truth to her and waiting for her to listen and see him and receive his love. But here's the thing: those pieces of the story are familiar because they're compelling. They're told time and again because so many of us can relate--to alienation, to loss, to the desire to hide our hearts away while we simultaneously desire for someone to see us, jagged shards and all, and refuse to stop loving us.

In the hands of a skilled writer, those familiar characters can be given new life over and over again with the little details, quirks of voice and personality. Characters we subconsciously recognize can become unique individuals in the right writer's hands. And Lori Benton is that writer.

The setting of this book is brought to life with what must have been grueling research. I didn't notice a dialogue anachronism--not a single one--in this entire book. I loved everybody, main and secondary characters alike. I'm sad to see this is a standalone novel. I wish I could spend more time in this community. Yes, the plot elements are resolved, but then what happened? What happens next to Willa and Neil, and what growth is in store for them along the way?

This book deserves a special note on dialogue, because I found every word of it absolutely delightful, and I'm something of a dialogue snob (my definition: someone who will literally put a book down forever if the dialogue doesn't work).

My favorite voice was (of course) Neil MacGregor's. Oh, the lovely Scottish accent. I grinned when people misunderstood his vocabulary. I waited eagerly for him to return any time he was off the page. And his voice isn't the only reason for this. I truly loved this character. He's good, patient, kind, intelligent, educated, passionate about his calling as a naturalist, deeply devoted to his faith, not above griping at his horse and his dog, not above asking questions of his God. He's tenacious. He's vulnerable due to an injury that has left him with a life-altering debilitation. I'm usually drawn to darker characters, the ones who make questionable moral decisions and sometimes need someone else to voice truth to them. But Neil is often the voice of truth in this story, and I loved him for that too. At the same time, I loved that even Neil has lessons to learn. He isn't perfect, and he doesn't trust God perfectly.

Another testament to Benton's skill is that while questions of faith are discussed openly by the characters, the characters are not mouthpieces for the novel's themes. There is no "moral to the story" spoon-feeding here; there's only the story itself.

Do I have any gripes? Well, it's a historical romance and a Christian novel, so a few of the conclusions are foregone. But that's an issue I have with the genres, not with this particular book. This particular book is an excellent example not only of its genres but of fiction in general.

4.5 stars, and I guess I'd better go find everything else Lori Benton has written. show less

Burning Sky is Lori Benton’s debut novel. If I had not known that, I would never have suspected that Benton was not an author with several novels to her credit. This novel is just sooo good! Great sense of place, lyrical writing, complex characters, wonderful plot, thought-provoking themes — you just can’t get any better than this. And while Burning Sky is labeled an historical novel, it easily transcends the genre. If you have to categorize it, I would say it is literary fiction. Interested yet? Then go out and get it! You won’t be disappointed.

Willa Obenchain was abducted by the Mohawk Indians at the age of fourteen. Twelve years later she returns to her former home as changed as the settlement of Shiloh is. The Revolutionary show more War is over, her parents are missing and the status of their homestead is to be determined by a magistrate. Having faced loss repeatedly over almost half her life, Willa is determined to live alone, without any chance of getting hurt again. But of course life takes over — a wounded naturalist lays across her path, as do two orphaned half-breed children, and her Mohawk brother. There are also those who cannot let the past remain in the past and are determined to drive Willa from her land.

Burning Sky is a novel with many strengths. Benton has created a world long past, but very real to the reader. The frontier of New York in the 1780s is depicted with historical accuracy. The characters, major as well as minor, are well-drawn, having a complexity that adds depth to their motives and actions. Willa is perhaps the strongest female character I have experienced this year. Benton’s writing style is beautiful, especially in the conversation of Neil MacGregor. Who wouldn’t fall in love with a man who talked like that!

There is a lot to discuss with Burning Sky as well. My book club meets tonight, and I anticipate great conversation to come from this novel. Is love without loss possible? How does God shape families? Is a gentle spirit more desirable than physical strength in times of crisis? And then there is the whole topic of slavery vs Indian abduction — is there any difference?

Burning Sky is one of those books I will think about for a long time. And one I will recommend over and over.

Very Highly Recommended.

Great for Book Clubs.

(Thanks to Waterbrook for an ARC of this novel. The opinions expressed are mine alone.) show less

"Burning Sky: A Novel of the American Frontier" is a stunning debut from author Lori Benton. Emotionally powerful, and historically rich, this ultimately uplifting story of survival is one you will long remember. Willa Obenchain and her family live on the New York frontier of the 1700's. At age fourteen, Willa is taken captive by Mohawk Indians, who rename her "Burning Sky". She must adapt to her forced existence or perish. Eventually, she becomes a wife and mother, blending into her Mohawk family, thinking she will never see her birth family again. The loss of her husband and children sends her on a sad journey to her homeplace. During the twelve years that Willa was gone, the Revolutionary War had been fought, and many tragic changes show more had occurred on the New York frontier. Just when Willa gets close to her family's land, she finds an injured Scotsman, Neil MacGregor, and his dog, Cap. She comes to their aide, and brings them both along with her to the cabin her father had built. Her family is nowhere to be found, and the home and land are both long-neglected. Soon after she arrives, she is greeted by an old friend and neighbor, Anni, whose brother, Richard Waring, had meant to marry Willa when she came of age. While Anni embraces Willa, and welcomes her home, Richard is cruel and denigrating of Will's time of captivity. Anni tells Willa that her parents and grandmother disappeared after being accused of loyalty to the Tory Party. Her home and land are to be auctioned, but Willa determines to fight for her land and find out what happened to her family. Neil MacGregor is a gentle man of deep faith, and he shows great care for Willa. She had planned a solitary life, and she tries to guard her heart from emotional attachment. Political unrest and the hatred and fear between settlers and Indians continue to threaten Willa's future and her chance of keeping her homeplace. Perhaps the biggest threat of all to Willa is Richard Waring--the youth who had hoped to marry Willa is now a vengeful and twisted man, scarred by the atrocities of war. As Willa struggles with her new life, her past returns in the form of her Mohawk "brother", Tames-His-Horse, who beckons her to return to his people. Where is Willa's true home? She has lived in two worlds, yet she now belongs fully to neither place. Can she find a way to open her heart and embrace both cultures, creating a whole-new, happier way of life? Will she allow herself to love and be loved in return? "Burning Sky" is stirring, poignant, and unforgettable, a beautiful example of historical fiction at its best. Highly recommended.

Book Copy Gratis WaterBrook Press show less

The novel Burning Sky by Lori Benton is a fantastic novel. I was thoroughly impressed by the historical accuracy, and how much the author researched into the American Revolution and what actually took place after the fact. The novel tells the story of Willa Obenchain, who abducted by Mohawk Indians before the war began at the young age of fourteen, felt compelled to return to her home in the New York frontier where she lived before the kidnapping. While the Revolutionary War is over, she returns to find things have greatly changed. Her parents are no where to be found, and her world seems to be falling apart. She becomes determined to live a single solitary life, dependent on only herself. Then, on the border of her father's lands meets show more a wounded Scotsman, and her idea of a solitary life starts changing.

This is a beautiful story filled with romance, pain and heart tugging moments that made it hard to put down. I remember reading a story when I was a child about a young girl who was also abducted by Indians as a child, and I was super excited to read another novel along the same lines and about early America. I was slightly disappointing that there was not more Native American culture and lifestyle added to the story line. However, this did not change my opinion of the book in the least. I loved that while romance was a big part of the story, there was a lot more going on. There is violence and hate and struggles that Willa and the other characters have to contend with, as well as other side stories that added to the overall plot. I highly recommend this book, but readers should know that it is not a gooey romance, but a complex novel filled with love, forgiveness and of course healing from the past's trials.
Note: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for my honest review. show less

“I am the place where two rivers meet, stilted with upheaval and loss“. So begins the narrative of Willa Obenchain–also known as Burning Sky–with these words spoken to herself as she is on her way to her first home. Taken from that home when she was 14 by Mohawk Indians, she learned to live contentedly among them until war and disease forced her to return. Yet she is not sure what she has to return to–after 12 years the Revolutionary war has changed everything and her parents may not even be alive. Surprisingly, Willa does not return alone–for she encounters a wounded man and his dog along the way. She drags him to her parents cabin, which turns out to be deserted, and nurses his wounds. She soon discovers that her neighbors show more are hostile, and that she may not even be permitted to stay–for they suspect her parents of having been Tories, and they plan to auction off their land. Still she is determined to survive, to plant a crop and keep the only thing that is left to her. Yet her neighbors will not let her forget her tainted past, nor will her Mohawk brother, Joseph Tames-His-Horse. And then there is the matter of the man she rescued, the Scotsman Neil MacGregor, who wants to lead her in a different direction. Above all, she must learn to trust the Almighty to direct her to the right path.
Lori Benton is a new author (this is her first book published by Waterbrook Press, a Christian publisher) and I am so glad I picked up the advance reading copy of this book! It was a delightful read and I was drawn in by Willa’s courage and the difficult choices she had to make. Her journey was a much one of the heart as it was one of survival, as she learned to overcome the emotional trauma she had endured and decide whether or not to risk opening up her heart to others again. The tension of seeing which man would win her affections–Joseph Tames-His-Horse or Neil MacGregor–made me keep turning the pages, along with wondering how she was going to overcome the many obstacles that threatened her survival. Neil MacGregor was also a quite intriguing character as he faced his own decisions about what course he would take–and often spoke to the Almighty with his Scottish burr in quite amusing and remarkable ways.
I would definitely suggest this book to lovers of thoughtful historical romances, especially if they enjoy stories which explore a person’s relationship with the Almighty along with their relationships with others and personal growth. It also has some suggested questions for those that might want to use it for a book discussion group–for which I think it would work well. I will look forward to more books from this author! show less

This is not my typical choice but I certainly do not regret picking it.

"I received this book free from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review."

Growing up, I loved the movie "Last of the Mohicans" probably more because of Daniel Day Lewis and the incredible music than anything else. But I do have Native American heritage so I hated most movies about "Indians" as most with Native blood do.

I also grew up reading Janette Oke's fantastic frontier novels and while this novel is less about gushy romance and more about the harsh reality, it does have a certain romance.

I think Lori Benton has done a fantastic job and I can't wait to read her next novel.

Well done!

The frontier period is a difficult one to write about. SO much of what show more we know about that time is more legend than actual fact but I get the feeling that Lori has done her homework.

And it is so refreshing, in a world that has such a strong focus on intense sexuality, to find a wholesome romance that is clean and decent. It's definitely a book I am comfortable passing on to my daughter.

Thank you for reading my review!

God Bless! show less

The novel Burning Sky by Lori Benton is a fantastic novel. I was thoroughly impressed by the historical accuracy, and how much the author researched into the American Revolution and what actually took place after the fact. The novel tells the story of Willa Obenchain, who abducted by Mohawk Indians before the war began at the young age of fourteen, felt compelled to return to her home in the New York frontier where she lived before the kidnapping. While the Revolutionary War is over, she returns to find things have greatly changed. Her parents are no where to be found, and her world seems to be falling apart. She becomes determined to live a single solitary life, dependent on only herself. Then, on the border of her father's lands meets show more a wounded Scotsman, and her idea of a solitary life starts changing.

This is a beautiful story filled with romance, pain and heart tugging moments that made it hard to put down. I remember reading a story when I was a child about a young girl who was also abducted by Indians as a child, and I was super excited to read another novel along the same lines and about early America. I was slightly disappointing that there was not more Native American culture and lifestyle added to the story line. However, this did not change my opinion of the book in the least. I loved that while romance was a big part of the story, there was a lot more going on. There is violence and hate and struggles that Willa and the other characters have to contend with, as well as other side stories that added to the overall plot. I highly recommend this book, but readers should know that it is not a gooey romance, but a complex novel filled with love, forgiveness and of course healing from the past's trials.
Note: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for my honest review. show less