It is the year 1811 and
slavery is still considered an acceptable and even necessary facet of
society. Her fair skin belies the fact
that Althea is born with black blood on her maternal side. Althea is born free to parents who adore each
other and their children, and every day is filled with love and joy. Her father teaches her to always trust the
Lord, even when she does not understand.
This trust in the Lord is what will get Althea through the horrific
years to follow. One night a hurricane
takes the lives of her parents and Althea and her little sister are stolen and
enslaved by their neighbouring plantation owner. Soon illness takes her sister’s life and
Althea is left alone in the world, tormented by a cruel master who locks her in
chains and steals her freedom and her innocence. For seven long years Althea endures the
injustice while holding fast to her trust in the Lord, secretly saving money
and biding her time. One night good
fortune smiles on Althea and she manages to escape during a storm while her
owner is passed out from too much drink.
God blesses her path with a kind captain who realizes but does not care
that she is a slave attempting to escape, and gives her passage to Charleston,
America. Once again free, Althea adopts
the name Adalia and makes an independent living as a doctor’s assistant, her
mother’s knowledge of herbs aiding her in treating the sick. Having been born free, Adalia convincingly
sheds the physical and mental shackles of slave-like behaviour and manages to
integrate herself as a servant girl in her new society, despite the bitterness
she feels toward the wealthy whose slaves she has to treat.
It is that disgust towards
those who think it is the most natural thing in the world to own another human
being that makes Adalia completely immune to the charms of one Morgan Rutledge,
the youngest son of a wealthy plantation owner.
His good looks and fun-loving nature hides the fact that Morgan is a
very unhappy young man. He has dreams of
sailing the seas, but once his father noticed his love of the ocean as a child
he was told in no uncertain terms that he would be disowned should he take a
common traders job. Instead of following
the passion God had placed in his heart, Morgan’s life is spent attending one
meaningless soiree after the other with less than savoury friends; until he
meets the one woman who does not fall at his feet in the hopes of securing his
affection, and by extension his family’s wealth.
The more they cross paths, the
more Adalia begins to think she misjudged the young man. Thanks to Adalia’s gentle example, Morgan, in
turn, finds himself rethinking his lifestyle and his beliefs. Adalia and Morgan embark on a tentative
friendship, but society is not as accepting as Morgan is of a lowly working
girl attending their lavish parties - with one of the most eligible bachelors
at her side, no less. The men are rude
and the ladies are cruel, and while Morgan is astounded by Adalia’s bravery and
grace, he fears that ultimately the behaviour of those he used to consider
friends will alienate the woman quickly laying claim to his heart. Working hard by day and getting swept away in
the opulence of high society by night, Adalia she finds herself neglecting her
relationship with God. The unlikely
couple soon finds themselves falling in love; but how can Adalia even consider
a courtship with a man whose family owns slaves? And what if he ever discovered her
heritage? Would the beauty, bravery, intelligence
and kind heart that captured his affections be strong enough to overcome the
danger to his prized reputation and society’s prejudice?
Veil of Pearls by Marylu Tyndall is the most beautifully
written book I’ve read in a long time.
The prose is lovingly crafted and the plot is flawless. It is a story of great depth, believable
characters (though the Villain in the form of the conniving lady Emerald was a
bit too much to bear at times) and strong Christian message of hope and
redemption. Even so, I did find this
book very difficult to read. Tyndall
accomplishes the amazing task of immersing the reader in Adalia’s life, and her
hurts were my own. I absolutely hated
experiencing the treatment Adalia had to suffer, first through Sir Walter, then
through the Charleston elite. Every
attempt at hurting or humiliating Adalia brought me pain as well. What a marvelous feat by the author! Tyndalll does an excellent job of keeping the
reader off balance. At no stage was I confident
that Adalia (or myself) would get a happy ending, and as I neared the end I feared
there simply weren’t enough pages to wrap the story up to my heart’s content. Ultimately Veil of Pearls is a work of art worthy of my highest rating.
Product Information:
Title: Veil of Pearls
Title: Veil of Pearls
Series: Standalone
Author: Marylu Tyndall
Publisher: Barbour
Publishing, Inc
Year: 2012
Pages: 369
ISBN-10: 1616265779
ISBN-13: 978-1616265779
ASIN: B071V7CLY4
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