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 57th 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.
