Review 434: The Rebellion of Jane Clarke

The Rebellion of Jane Clarke by Sally Cabot Gunning
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Really enjoyed this book! It's set in 1769 in Boston and a small town nearby where Jane Clarke grew up. She's now a young adult tending to the sick learning from a village woman, when her father wants Jane to marry Phinnie Paine. Jane, however, says no to Paine's proposal. This infuriates her father, and he sends her off to Boston to tend to her elderly aunt who is ill.

While in Boston Jane hopes to see more of her older brother and finds that tending to her aunt's illness is much different than a sore throat or a burn, it's a daily management of her symptoms, which seems to increase whenever there is noise outside. The city life is much noisier, and smellier, than the small village Jane is used to. There is also the political situation, which is very much on everyone’s mind and agenda.

British soldiers have been sent to the colony to "keep the peace" in Boston, instead it aggravates the townspeople and creates disturbances. Jane Clarke finds herself entwined in a couple of these disturbances and she quickly learns that the newspapers don’t necessarily print the truth as it happens.

While exiled from her Satucket village Jane tries to understand not only the political situation, but also herself and what she wants for a husband. In an errand to buy paper for letter-writing Jane meets Henry Knox and they become friends. Though there is this bit of match-making and relationship woes, it certainly isn’t the center of the novel. Plus there are unexpected turns of events!

I love how Jane grew as a character and discovers herself. And the historical facts in the book make it brilliant. However, Jane does question nearly everything frequently, particularly in the beginning of the book. She is growing and learning but this type of uncertainty may make some readers frustrated at the pacing. For myself, I just want to read another Sally Gunning book!

 

P.S. Apparently this is book 3 is a series. I didn't realize that and this book can be read without the previous two. Although, maybe those are where I should start with another of Gunning's books.