Book Review: "The Messenger"

"The Messenger" by: Siri Mitchell

I chose to review this book because I had confused the author with Syrie James whose book "The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen" I had read, and I wanted to see what that author could do with more original material. Unfortunately, I only realized my mistake after I had finished reading "The Messenger"! Oh well!

This book is the story of Hannah Sutherland a Quaker in the midst of the American War for Independence. The story takes place in Philadelphia over the winter of 1778- the winter of Valley Forge's almost starvation... Hannah and her family are forced to quarter British troops in their home and live side by side with men who they want nothing to do with. These circumstances quickly force Hannah and her family out of their home and they take refuge in the home of her affluent aunt and uncle. In the midst of the upheaval in her life Hannah and her family has learned that their son, Hannah's twin brother, who fights for General Washington has been captured and thrown in jail but as part of the Quaker mandate they choose to let him rot in jail as part of the 'consequences' and 'just punishment' for the action he has chosen in going to war.  Hannah, having a deep connection to her twin begins feeling the specter of her brother and the deplorable conditions he is living in and is determined to do something to help him even though she knows it is forbidden by her 'Meeting'.

Enter Jeremiah Jones, a former British soldier in Pontiac's War. Jeremiah lost his hand in a skirmish during that war and now runs a tavern and lives in bitter resignation that he will never lead the life that he thought he would, the life that he desires to live with a wife and family. Jeremiah is a mercenary with no true loyalties and uses his tavern, as a bustling center of activity and gossip, to pass that information on. At the moment he is working to pass information to Washington through an intermediary- but finds himself on his own as the man feels the risk is becoming too great for him to continue. This leaves Jeremiah the recipient of a message planning a jail break to liberate Washington's captured soldiers with no one to work with and no means to deliver it...

So begins an unlikely partnership of convenience. Through a series of events Jeremiah is able to get Hannah into the prison to visit her brother- and pass messages and materials- in the hopes of making the jail break possible and in the process save Hannah's brother from certain death. Hannah and Jeremiah constantly butt heads and fight over the things he asks of her and what she is willing to do for him. In the midst of this Jeremiah falls in love with Hannah, but although he feels the effects of her kindness and self-sacrifice that warms his hardened heart and causes him to become a better man he continues to believe that no woman will ever want him. Hannah, in seeing the effects of war up close and personal, begins a tortured journey of conscience that eventually separates her from her 'Meeting' and her family as she can no longer stand by and remain neutral.

I really wanted to like this book as I have always enjoyed 'Revolutionary War' fiction but I kept putting the book down in disappointment... I did feel that the book is well researched but try as I might I just couldn't connect with the story. The storyline itself could have been workable and good but the narrative throughout feels really off as it is told in a really odd first person voice which also switches back and forth between the two main characters perspectives.
Much of what Hannah struggles with throughout the book stems from philosophies and theologies that I know are integral to the Quakers but are so opposite of what I myself believe that it was difficult to see that played out without wanting to throttle a few people! I was glad to see her reach a point of decision and action that allowed her to move forward with her life in a direction that she knew to be right.
Something that really grated on me was the actions of Hannah's parents, particularly her father. As they are living as guests in the aunt's home they repeatedly make a nuisance of themselves by refusing the help of the household servants/slaves or by trying to do their work. This action does nothing but make life more difficult for the servants as it brings attention and hardship to their usually unnoticed lives/work. This is always done in the name of abolition with the reasoning that 'these people are made in God's image and should not be owned by any one' (which is true) but the sentiment is curiously laughable in the face of their refusal to take sides and help those- like their own son- who are dying in the prison or are fighting to free the country from being under the tyrannnical rule of the British!!  
The thing that was extremely frustrating was the book's abrupt ending! After more than 350 pages we finally get to the big event and the reader feels that the wrap up is about to begin- then you turn the page and find you are at the end without even an epilogue! So many things are left up in the air and without answers that it really cheats the reader out of a truly happy ending! With good resolution this book could have had a strong ending that would have left the reader more satisfied.

So, in the end this is a story with good potential that never lives up to what it could be and leaves readers wanting what they should have gotten after so many long pages!

This book gets a disappointed 2 out of 5 stars.


I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and opinion of the product.