Book Review: Into the Whirlwhind

It’s taken me a long time for me to write this review – in many senses! First off I want to thank Amy at Bethany House for investigating and help resolve a problem I was having at the end of the year with my reviewers account! She was kind enough to let me have my pick of recent available new releases; right at the top of my list was Elizabeth Camden’s newest “Into the Whirlwind”! Once received I was eager to read it and eager to get my review posted, but my own life has been a bit of a whirlwind since the beginning of the year and has kept me from posting as planned.

Camden’s newest offering centers around Mollie Knox, single daughter of a Civil War veteran and owner and proprietor of her father’s beloved 57^th Illinois Watch Company. Just like the exquisite watches she lovingly assembles Mollie is a woman of delicate parts moving precisely in time and according to expectation. Zach Kazmarek is the exact opposite of Mollie. Raised from humble immigrant beginnings to become one of the city’s most prominent attorneys Zach is bold, passionate, and not afraid to get what he wants; working for one of the city’s biggest and best department stores he’s developed a reputation for just that. For three years Mollie and Zach have met for strictly business purposes, she thinking him cold and unfeeling; he thinking she was the most beautiful creature on earth. After three years neither really knows the other but that is about to change….

Set against the background of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 Mollie and Zack are thrown together in a way they never expected. Amidst the chaos of that night and the following weeks Mollie is carried away on a whirlwind of events and emotions that throws her tightly ordered world into a tailspin that she may never recover from… Conflicted about what she truly wants from life, and from Zack, Mollie struggles to rebuild her company and her life and learns that sometimes the only way to survive the winds of change is to embrace them.

Having fallen in love with Camden’s work in the stellar “The Rose of Winslow Street” I have followed with interest her subsequent releases these last few years. Going into this book I had only a little knowledge about the Great Chicago fire and found many of the details she shares truly interesting as she, from the first pages, grabs the readers hand and pulls them along into the fire. In many places it really felt like you were there with Mollie, Zach, and little Sophie, whom they pick up during their flight from the city. I don’t know why, but in the past when I think of the Fire I think of the great destruction that accompanied it- but I’ve never considered what that meant personally, logistically, and financially to the people affected. Through Mollie and Zach’s eyes you really get a picture of how the city was rebuilt and changes made and it brings to the reader a personal connection to an event from long ago.

 Over all my feelings on this particular Elizabeth Camden novel are mixed. There are things I really liked about the book like the time period, the neat way the historical info was presented, and the character of Zach who has a strong presence throughout. But there are things that I felt left something to be desired. I would have loved to dig a bit more into Mollie for example, though she is the main character and the story is told mainly from her perspective there were times that I felt disconnected from her- like she wasn’t telling the whole truth with a particular thought or action. There were times that I questioned her sincerity in what she thought or did with her relationships with Colonel Lowe vs. Zach and how she treated both of them. In both cases it seemed that the relationship was more about her then about two parties and equal ground. At the end I got annoyed because when she’s ready for what she wants she goes all angsty over whether or not she can get it, and get it when she wants it and I don’t find that attractive in any heroine.

Having said that however, I realize that the issues that I have with Mollie’s character are not a deal breaker for this book. Despite her being more indecisive than I would have liked for a woman with the futures of others in her hands I couldn’t really dislike her either. Mollie finds her security in her routine and in knowing what to expect from herself and others- and I can’t say that I have never been that way myself. What Mollie learns however is that with the right people by your side the storms of life are nothing to fear.

Final Rating: 3.5 stars

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