Liberty Letters: The Personal Correspondence of Elizabeth Walton and Abigail Matthews

Rating:
Summary: Interesting historical fiction in an unusual format.
Review: This book is written in the form of letters between two friends. Elizabeth Walton and Abigail Matthews are both eleven years old in the summer of 1609, and are the best of friends. But their lives take very different paths when Abigail's family decides to leave England to settle in the new colony of Jamestown, Virginia. Saddened by their separation, the friends keep up a regular correspondence with each other. Elizabeth's life continues much as it always has, although more is expected of her as she grows into a young lady. But Abigail's is vastly changed. Shortly after arriving in the New World, she loses both of her parents -- her mother dies of starvation, and her father is killed by Indians. In the years that follow she struggles to understand why so much hardship has happened to her.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, but in the second half it went from dealing with Abigail's personal struggle with her faith in the midst of so much tragedy, to being a bit too preachy when it dealt with the conversion of Pocahontas. Still, it was well written, and well researched with interesting historical details, both about life in Virginia and life in England from 1609 to 1614, a time period I particularly enjoy to read about. I also liked the fact that it was written in the form of letters, because it was a unique idea. I would recommend it to readers who are interested in this historical period and who do not mind the religious content, or who feel they can overlook it.