The Mayflower Bride

"She'd shed enough tears to create a river the past few weeks, and she'd finally told the Lord that enough was enough.  The only way she could make it through was with His help.  Her new recitation became I can do this." 

Mary Elizabeth is wary of the future.  Standing on the deck of the ship Speedway in 1620, she reminisces about her life in Holland and is worried about her trip to the New World.  Holland wasn't home but it was where her mother had taken her final breath, and having to leave her behind is gut wrenching for Mary Elizabeth, her little brother David, and their father.  They are hoping the New World will also mean a new and better life away from persecution.  A new beginning.

 Mary Elizabeth and her family are members of the Separatists, a religious sect who had chosen to break away from the Church of England, in pursuit of spiritual freedom.  This choice has made them detestable in their land and so they fled to Holland to break free from religious persecution.  Now a number of their congregation are headed to the New World to help start a new settlement where they can freely worship and live for the Lord.

William is also ready for a fresh start.  He is an orphan who has had a hard knock life thus far, being kicked out of his foster home at the tender age of nine, and was on the streets barely able to survive.  This is until a kind-hearted gentleman took him in and taught him the trade of carpentry.  He is on the Mayflower, the ship that is to sail alongside the Speedway, loaded with supplies for the New World.

The Mayflower Bride tells this harrowing story of the trip across the Atlantic through the eyes of Mary Elizabeth, William, and several other inhabitants aboard the Mayflower.  Your hopes rise and fall with the characters, who deal with a ship that almost sinks, bouts of seasickness and scurvy, and such severe illness that it brings with it death.  Intermingled with the sadness there is also the beautiful story of love, friendship, finding inner strength, and living by faith and faith alone. 

This is the first book in The Daughters of the Mayflower series and I believe it to be an incredible beginning.  What I really enjoyed the most was the Note to the Reader at the end of the book where the author explains in greater detail the genealogy of several of the characters that were actually on the Mayflower and connecting them to famous figures that we all know and love today!  Ms. Woodhouse was even able to trace her own lineage to Virginia in 1659!

There are a few historical inaccuracies which the author does explain both at the beginning and ending of the book, but in my opinion they do not hurt the integrity of the actual story of the Separatists or the circumstances of the Mayflower voyage whatsoever.  I highly recommend this book for those that love history and appreciate the plight the early settlers had to endure to create the freedom we have today.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.  All opinions are my own.