I loved the history, the details, in this novel, and the mystery had me hooked most of the way through. Something about much of it seemed just a little bit like a TV mystery though...a good one, but a few scenes, especially by the end, just seemed too stereotypically obvious. But, that said, there were some very memorable characters and scenes, with the details of the time and place helped hold my interest even when the mystery was well-solved. I did not finish this book. It began well, following the story of Edward Drummond who is tracking down all the men who signed the death warrant for Charles I. It also follwed the very interesting story of Blondine Van Hoeveran, a young Dutch woman trader in the colony of New Amsterdam. Children are going missing, and eventually, Blondine and Edward team up to find them and solve the mystery. My complaint is mainly about the book's structure: it jumps around between several characters so you don't really get a connection for any one of them. Also, the role of Africans and Native Americans are respectively grateful subserviants or exotic//crazed people. There was a grisly scene of cannabalism (which I mostly skipped) and I finally just got tired of it and stopped listening. The best scene is when Blondine traded for a barrell of molasses, and through shrewd further trading, eventually had an acre of land AND the original barrell of molasses. I also really enjoyed all the details of life in the colony, and the different ways the laws treated men and women in the Netherlands and England.
What do You think about The Orphanmaster (2012)?
I was misled thinking this was a historical novel, pretty disgusting.
—charlie
I enjoyed this book but also feel it was a little uneven.
—babygurl
The history of lower Manhattan was fascinating!
—Immaculate
