Plantation Nation by Mercedes King
Sixteen year old Emma Cartwright runs away from her family’s South Carolina rice plantation after a slave is beaten to death.
Determined to join the fight against slavery, Emma enlists in the Union Army disguised as a young man.
Nothing could prepare her for the sacrifices needed—and for falling in love for the first time.
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Excerpt:
Emma could no longer raise her head or open her eyes. She tasted her own blood and withered under the sun’s brilliance. Her back and legs throbbed from the lashes with the leather belt. The scent of honeysuckle drifted to her nostrils, but Emma quivered with agony and trepidation. She fought the oblivion that threatened to engulf herfearing it was death.
Her heart searched for a prayer or a plea but nothing came. She wanted to cry out for her father, forgetting he was long dead.
Someone snatched a fistful of Emma’s hair and held up her head.
“Look!” Quinn said through gritted teeth. “Look at what you’ve done.” He touched his mouth to her ear. “Ain’t like he didn’t deserve it, though. Worthless wretch.”
Emma tried again to focus on the scene. At first, through the narrow slits of her swollen eyes, all she saw was a row of brown feet, naked and caked with mud past the ankles, a sure sign that rice planting was underway. She couldn’t find or concentrate on their faces now, but she knew that among the clan of thirteen laborers, Basil’s mother and brother were there watching. Fear reverberated from the mass. Children cried and stirred, but no one moved or averted their eyes. George had insisted.
My View:
Plantation Nation is the first book that I honestly stayed up all night to finish! Each time I thought I should stop, something would happen that possessed me to continue reading. It is rare that I find a book that makes me so angry, so sad, so devastated, so extremely happy, and then starts back over each emotion again and again.
There were so many memorable moments, especially when the ‘true” reveal of the uprising took place. Or the devastation that occurred at the plantation that Emma left behind. Even though Emma is only 16 years old, she portrays herself in a way that most adults could never dream of. She is one of the strongest female characters that I have come across in some time.
The history that is included throughout the plot, is amazing. There is just enough to help you get a true grasp on the whole situation. I loved how the relationship developed between Emma and the group of men that we around her. Even though the relationship between Emma and James frustrated me to the point of anger and in the end sobbing, I could see their relationship no other way.
The ending blew me away, as it was something that I was nowhere near ready for. It also brought me to a complete breakdown emotionally. The author was able to draw me in from the first couple sentences and keep me hooked all the way to very last word! This is one of the few 5 star books that I have read, and it deserves just that..
Mercedes King is an Ohio native and founding member of Sisters in Crime Columbus, Ohio (affectionately dubbed SiCCO). With a degree in Criminology from Capital University and a passion for writing, she crafted O! Jackie, a novel focusing on the private life of Jackie Kennedy. She has also written The Kennedy Chronicles, a series of short stories featuring JFK and Jackie before they were married and before ‘Camelot’. Mercedes writes in a variety of genres, including historical and mystery / suspense. In fact, she’s working on creating a new genre, ‘modern historical’.
Her newest release, Plantation Nation, follows the journey of Emma Cartwright, a 16 year old Southern girl who disguises herself as a young man and joins the Union Army.
Visit her sites, OJackiebook.com or Mercedesking.com . Contact her at Mercedes ‘at’ ojackiebook ‘dot’ com.
Thank you so much for the kind words for Plantation Nation!! I really loved creating Emma’s story. Can you imagine being that crazy-brave? Thanks again for everything!!