My......I really love to read especially fiction. Do you know why?When I read stories created from someone else’s imagination, it stirs something up in me.I begin to see characters of a fictitious world become real in my own imagination, and before long I am inspired to write stories fresh from my own creative banks. It’s really interesting being a writer of fiction. I really can’t explain the feeling I get when I conjure up something from my own imagination and it gradually takes the shape of a plot complete with characters, a setting and a captivating theme which transcends into a brand new world of reality in which you can relate with-sights,smells,sounds,tangible objects, emotions and these are all embedded in a good story. Anyway,I have just finished reading an exciting novel entitled, Distant Dreams:Ribbons of Steel by Judith Pella and Tracie Peterson. I choose to call this novel a contemporary classic written way back in 1997. Although,I follow the trend of new realeses,nevertheless,when I come across a book or novel I haven’t read yet,whether it’s a classic or a recently published novel, I immediately grab it and run with it. Distant Dreams:Ribbons of Steel is a very intriguing story set in early 19th century America at the time slavery was the order of the day, when Andrew Jackson was president.Carolina Adams is a fifteen year old girl whose interest far outweighs family and societal expectations.Her love for engines and railroads is uncharacteristically unfeminine,and causes tension and a rift between her mother, Margaret Adams and herself. It also creates a further distance between her and her immediate elder sister, Virginia Adams. But her father, Joseph Adams supports her dreams and desires, seeing them as a reflection of his own wanderlust which he had to suppress and give up several years back when the responsibility of the family plantation business was suddenly thrust on him as a result of his father’s death. James Baldwin loves the railroad much to his father’s disappointment who wants him to run the family bank of which James has no interest whatsoever.The Baldwins are in deep financial trouble and Leland Baldwin James’ father wants him to marry a girl from a financially secure family, and the lot falls on Virginia Adams.But James stumbles into Carolina unexpectedly at the library in his home on the night of the party organized by his parents so he could meet eligible ladies for marriage.He is surprised when she requests for a book on locomotives-a very unfeminine request!This fascinates and confuses him at the same time especially as his attraction grows towards her after he becomes her tutor trying to recover from a personal demise.
Carolina on the other hand grapples with her emotions and after a long while realizes that she loves James but can never have him because he is engaged to her sister Virginia.But things turn for the worst after a plague hits the plantation and the Adams’family lose their youngest child-Maryland. James and Carolina are drawn together as he tries to console her over the death of her little sister. James tries to express his feelings but can’t because of Virginia’s intrusion.He decides after returning from Maryland’s funeral back to Washington to call off the wedding to Virginia.In the end, Carolina is heartbroken not just because of Maryland’s loss but because of James’ as well.A broken heart she had to carry in silence because of the impropriety of loving her sister’s fiancé.
Well, it’s an intriguing story everyone who loves a good book should read.And another food for thought about the story is the hypocrisy of keeping black slaves and being religious at the same time.That is one aspect I find appalling about the story. Joseph Adams, Carolina’s father is very clearly a pious man who loves God and the Bible.Then why keep slaves? I wonder if he understood the Bible and God’s word at all! The horrors of slavery may be a thing of the past but the effect of draining the African continent of probably the best brains and manpower from the 16th century to the 19th century has contributed largely to the undeveloped African continent we see and experience today.
Written by Ewoma
Carolina on the other hand grapples with her emotions and after a long while realizes that she loves James but can never have him because he is engaged to her sister Virginia.But things turn for the worst after a plague hits the plantation and the Adams’family lose their youngest child-Maryland. James and Carolina are drawn together as he tries to console her over the death of her little sister. James tries to express his feelings but can’t because of Virginia’s intrusion.He decides after returning from Maryland’s funeral back to Washington to call off the wedding to Virginia.In the end, Carolina is heartbroken not just because of Maryland’s loss but because of James’ as well.A broken heart she had to carry in silence because of the impropriety of loving her sister’s fiancé.
Well, it’s an intriguing story everyone who loves a good book should read.And another food for thought about the story is the hypocrisy of keeping black slaves and being religious at the same time.That is one aspect I find appalling about the story. Joseph Adams, Carolina’s father is very clearly a pious man who loves God and the Bible.Then why keep slaves? I wonder if he understood the Bible and God’s word at all! The horrors of slavery may be a thing of the past but the effect of draining the African continent of probably the best brains and manpower from the 16th century to the 19th century has contributed largely to the undeveloped African continent we see and experience today.
Written by Ewoma
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