Review The Broken Violin – Book One The Early Path Series The Revolutionary War by M.B. Tosi
Westbow Press 2017
My sleep was invaded, peace gone. I wrestled with the blankets and couldn’t find comfort. I rose to a state of semi-consciousness in a tangle of blankets. A hint of the scent of straw lingered. When I became fully awake I realized, it was not my struggle, the book The Broken Violin and the character Abigail Bosworth had me so captivated that I was living her struggle in my sleep. It has been a long time since a book so captured my interest that leaving the character in a tough position because I had to sleep only left my mind to wrestle with it on its own. Morning was upon me, but so was work and the book and Abigail would have to wait.
What better recommendation can I give a book than to share my story of how it caught me by surprise. The historical fiction tale was well written and placed in a not so often discussed part of the American Revolution. The story highlights the Native American desire to protect their homeland and the subsequent allegiance with the British in the Rev War. The main characters are well defined and realistic. The scenes as the story moves from Philadelphia to rural New York and on to Ottawa are descriptive. My only question of the content is the travel timelines of the story. As part of an equestrian family my knowledge is probably more tuned in to that than most readers. These moments caused me brief pause for thought but were not a detraction from the epic telling of a very human story of greed and giving, struggle, self-inspection, life as an outsider and finding one’s place.
I highly recommend this book. High school history teachers will find this a good read to inform students of the human condition during the war. The book will provide ample discussion of varied perspectives and points of history for classrooms. As this is first in a series I look forward to further reading when the next books in the Early Path Series are released.
