Review: Trouble the Water by Jacqueline Friedland

Title: Trouble the Water by Jacqueline Friedland
Publisher: SparkPress
Genre: Historical, Romance
Length: 353 pages
Book Rating: C

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Abigail Milton was born into the British middle class, but her family has landed in unthinkable debt. To ease their burdens, Abby’s parents send her to America to live off the charity of their old friend, Douglas Elling. When she arrives in Charleston at the age of seventeen, Abigail discovers that the man her parents raved about is a disagreeable widower who wants little to do with her. To her relief, he relegates her care to a governess, leaving her to settle into his enormous estate with little interference. But just as she begins to grow comfortable in her new life, she overhears her benefactor planning the escape of a local slave—and suddenly, everything she thought she knew about Douglas Elling is turned on its head.

Abby’s attempts to learn more about Douglas and his involvement in abolition initiate a circuitous dance of secrets and trust. As Abby and Douglas each attempt to manage their complicated interior lives, readers can’t help but hope that their meandering will lead them straight to each other. Set against the vivid backdrop of Charleston twenty years before the Civil War, Trouble the Water is a captivating tale replete with authentic details about Charleston’s aristocratic planter class, American slavery, and the Underground Railroad.

Review:

Trouble the Water by Jacqueline Friedland is a historical romance that does not sugarcoat the realities of life in pre-Civil War Charleston.

Abigail “Abby” Milton’s family has fallen on hard times and in order to ease their financial burden, she is sent to Charleston to live with family friend, Douglas Elling. Following an arduous and long sea journey, she is dismayed by her benefactor’s disheveled appearance and gruff demeanor. Uncertain of what the next year will bring for her, Abby nonetheless settles into life on Douglas’s estate and forms a friendship with Gracie Cunningham who lives on a neighboring plantation.  Douglas slowly emerges from his grief and anger from his wife and daughter’s tragic death three years earlier but considering her experiences before leaving England, can Abby bring herself to trust these changes?

Abby is  a prickly young woman who is not overly outspoken despite her independent thinking. She  has good reason to mistrust men but she is quick to jump to conclusions and she is somewhat immature. Abby is smart and capable but she easily conforms to society’s expectations of acceptable behavior for women in the time period.

With freedmen working for him, Douglas is a bit of an aberration in pro-slavery Charleston yet his experiences lead him to carefully adhere to society’s rules when dealing with Negroes. After the deaths of his wife and daughter, he retreats from society and he lives a quiet, low-key life.  Douglas remains withdrawn and brusque even after Abby’s arrival but he is eventually charmed by his houseguest.

The relationship between Douglas and Abby follows a very predictable path. Initially wary, after circumstances put them in close contact, their unexpected friendship leads to romance. However, underhanded machinations lead to the obligatory misunderstanding and both Douglas and Abby’s reactions to the situation are (unfortunately) exactly as expected.

Trouble the Water remains true to the time period which adds authenticity to the plot. Jacqueline Friedland’s research is absolutely impeccable and her depictions of the slave owners’ attitudes toward their slaves is realistic. The storyline also briefly highlights the Underground Railroad as one of the slaves makes the very dangerous journey to freedom.

An overall enjoyable read despite the slow pacing and clichéd romance.