Fairer than Morning-Rosslyn Elliot

Fairer than Morning
Rosslyn Elliot
Thomas Nelson, Apr 13 2011, $15.99
ISBN: 9781595547859

In 1823 in Rushville, Ohio, nineteen years old Eli Bowen proposes to fifteen years old Ann Miller without talking to her father, but she says no as she feels she is too young to marry him now. He is angry accusing her of deceit while she thought he was her selected future spouse when she turned eighteen. However Ann talks to her father a minister who says her late mom would want her to wait. Ann is angry with her dad who she feels directs her to wait in order for her to raise her two younger sisters (Susan and Mabel).

At the same time in Pittsburgh, teenage orphan Will Hanby becomes an indentured servant for five years to saddlemaker Master Good. He soon learns his boss is abusive.

In 1826 while Eli is seeing another woman, Minister Miller accompanied by his three daughters travel to Pittsburgh on business. There Ann and Will meet. She brings light and intelligence to his dark life. When the Millers return to Rushville, an energized Will take a stand when Good orders him to commit perjury in court. Instead after a beating he flees for West Virginia and prays for salvation, promising to help escaped slaves and wanting to head to Ohio to be with the woman he loves and prays she has moved passed her first heart entanglement while a raging Good pursues him.

This is a powerful historical fiction using real persona (the Miller family, Will and Good). The cast is super as they bring alive the Ohio Valley in the misnomer Era of Good Feelings. Fans will relish the Saddler’s Legacy as Rosslyn Elliot provides a profound early Americana thriller.

Harriet Klausner