What do You think about Lake In The Clouds (2003)?
This third book in Sara Donati's "Wilderness" series is so much better than the second one. It focuses on Hannah, Elizabeth and Nathaniel's wise "half-breed [sic]" eldest daughter, as she grows into a woman, a healer, and eventually a wife. She leaves Lake in the Clouds, her home, and ventures into New-York in 1802 to the Kine-Pox Institute to learn about White (O'Seronni) medicine, especially the new "inoculation" which promises to protect against smallpox. As always, Donati has done her research, and she uses her formidable writing ability to paint amazing pictures of early Manhattan and also to unflinchingly address the rampant and flagrant racism and classism that were the order of the day. When Hannah returns to her family home, events develop that test her wisdom, strength, and competence as a healer. Maybe it's just because I'm feeling sentimental on this 15th anniversary of my Father's death, but the closing chapters of "Lake in the Clouds" brought me to tears. Hannah's loving extended family, consisting of Africans, Native Americans and Europeans, along with an inner strength bequeathed to her by her ancestors, see her through false accusations and bring the book to a triumphant end. But there is more to come... I just found out there are more volumes in this series. Thought I was done. Maybe not.
—Karen
A decade has passed since this series last left off after Dawn on a Distant Shore and much has changed, not so much for the Bonners… though life has certainly continued for the family in that they have loved, lost, and aged… but in how Donati explores the Bonners’ story. Nathaniel and Elizabeth are now supporting characters. Consequently, much of the book’s action is presented from different perspectives – familiar in characterization but strangers in voice.Primarily, the novel is split into three distinct sections. The first focuses upon a runaway slave and what her presence in Paradise means for the Bonners and the Freemans. Nathaniel and Elizabeth go into the wilderness once more to guide the woman and her unborn child to safety, knowingly bringing danger into their own family’s life. Next, Hannah leaves Paradise for New York City, traveling with an ill Kitty and Ethan, to gain smallpox vaccination training. Finally, these two portions of the novel culminate in the third when both parties return home only to be thrust into a simmering racial battle fraught with revenge, secrets, and new relationships. To coincide with these three distinct portions of Lake in the Clouds, there are three main narrators: Hannah, Lily, and Jemima Southern – a recently blossomed woman, a child looking for her direction in life, and a bitter servant with an ax to grind, respectively.With this introduction to the novel given, it is rather impossible to present a review without bringing the personal into my remarks. It has been nearly three months since I last posted, not because I wasn’t reading during that time but because I wasn’t reading (and finishing) this novel. Instead, I found myself constantly distracted (sometimes willingly and sometimes almost unwillingly) by other reading options. (Hello Downton Abbey fanfic, I’m looking at you.) And this wasn’t because Lake in the Clouds is a horrible or uninteresting book… persay. While I realize this is certainly NOT a stellar recommendation, the truth of the matter is that, for a series which has been, up to this point, quite stellar, Lake in the Clouds was a disappointment, and, because it did not live up to its predecessors, the novel hurt itself by comparison. A separate entity, and I believe I would have finished the work much sooner, but I was disgruntled by the lack of Nathaniel and Elizabeth in Lake in the Clouds, and that disgruntlement just became a lack of interest in regards to new characters not related back to the Bonners’ story, Hannah’s medical endeavors, Lily’s adolescent insights, and Jemima’s interloping presence. One hopes that, next, when there is Fire Along the Sky, Donati will return to what made her series memorable and enjoyable in the first place – that she’ll take her readers back into the wilderness (figuratively) again.
—Charlynn
This was the third book in Donati's Wilderness series. A good deal of this story focuses on the younger citizens of Paradise, particularly Hannah Bonner who is now a young woman. Lily Bonner, one of Elizabeth and Nathaniel's 8 year old twins, is one of the characters that was focused on quite a lot. Her character has been fleshed out; as was Jemima Southern, Moses Southern's daughter. I don't feel that Nathaniel's character had all that much significance in this story, and I got to see a changed Elizabeth (or perhaps a different side of her). Slavery is a recurring topic, as is racial prejudice toward Indians -- especially women. There was a bit of tragedy in this story and there were some interesting and surprising plot developments. Overall, it was an enjoyable read and had a satisfying ending.
—Danielle
