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In Liberty's Wake
A sweeping adventure, In Liberty’s Wake follows Arabella Alden, her family, and their slaves as they face momentous change and upheaval on the eve of the American Revolution. Living on a Virginia plantation overlooking the James River, Arabella’s life is one of privilege and order; yet, like the river she views from her bedchamber window the calm belies a churning undercurrent capable of sweeping away anything in its path.
It’s 1763, Virginia is the wealthiest colony in British America, and as the French and Indian War draws to a close, colonists look forward to peace and prosperity. Loyal to their young monarch, King George III, they are proud to call themselves British; but, as tensions escalate between American colonists and Great Britain, master and slave alike must choose loyalties setting in motion events that will forever change their destinies and the fates of those they love.
A journey into a dynamic eighteenth-century world, In Liberty’s Wake explores the lives of a people bound together where few things are as they seem. From slave quarters to the Governor’s Palace ballroom in Williamsburg; along the cobblestone streets of Boston and aboard His Majesty’s Royal Navy ships; and behind the closed doors of General Washington’s headquarters, Arabella and those close to her venture far and wide, risking their fortunes and lives, for freedom and love.
Historical Novel Society Indie Reviews Editors' Choice 2016
It’s 1763, Virginia is the wealthiest colony in British America, and as the French and Indian War draws to a close, colonists look forward to peace and prosperity. Loyal to their young monarch, King George III, they are proud to call themselves British; but, as tensions escalate between American colonists and Great Britain, master and slave alike must choose loyalties setting in motion events that will forever change their destinies and the fates of those they love.
A journey into a dynamic eighteenth-century world, In Liberty’s Wake explores the lives of a people bound together where few things are as they seem. From slave quarters to the Governor’s Palace ballroom in Williamsburg; along the cobblestone streets of Boston and aboard His Majesty’s Royal Navy ships; and behind the closed doors of General Washington’s headquarters, Arabella and those close to her venture far and wide, risking their fortunes and lives, for freedom and love.
Historical Novel Society Indie Reviews Editors' Choice 2016
520 pages, Paperback
First published July 13, 2015
23 people are currently reading
2120 people want to read
About the author
Alexandra Norland
2 books71 followersAlexandra has been interested in eighteenth-century American and British history since childhood. She has a B.A. in English, is an avid reader, and enjoys reading a mix of fiction and nonfiction especially history, biographies, and travelogues. She currently lives in Virginia.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 4, 2018
In Liberty’s Wake: A Novel of British America is a story that follows the lives of several people before and during the American Revolution.
I really like the look and feel of the book. The font, format, and cover are well laid out. You can tell a lot of thought went into this.
I thought having the tutor set the scene through his letter to his fiancé worked well. Unfortunately, there was a lot of straight exposition throughout, which made me disengage.
Noland has good command of dialogue tags and doesn’t overdo accent spelling. There were a few well written poetic sentences, and I like how she described the foods they ate.
Most of the sentences, however, were confusing and verbose. There was a lot of stage direction and tell vs. show, which resulted in long descriptive paragraphs that pulled me out of the story.
There were too many POV’s and abrupt POV switches that led to confusion. If there were fewer characters that we got to know well, this would’ve been a more engaging read for me. There was never any struggle or conflict the characters went through—they all seemed one dimensional with no personal growth. I never felt any sympathy or empathy for any of them.
There were some distracting grammar errors. Inconsistent spelling of gray/grey and use of single parentheses outside of quoted dialogue. Another distraction was all the redundancy.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway for an honest review. I want to thank Alexandra Norland for the opportunity to read her book.
I really like the look and feel of the book. The font, format, and cover are well laid out. You can tell a lot of thought went into this.
I thought having the tutor set the scene through his letter to his fiancé worked well. Unfortunately, there was a lot of straight exposition throughout, which made me disengage.
Noland has good command of dialogue tags and doesn’t overdo accent spelling. There were a few well written poetic sentences, and I like how she described the foods they ate.
Most of the sentences, however, were confusing and verbose. There was a lot of stage direction and tell vs. show, which resulted in long descriptive paragraphs that pulled me out of the story.
There were too many POV’s and abrupt POV switches that led to confusion. If there were fewer characters that we got to know well, this would’ve been a more engaging read for me. There was never any struggle or conflict the characters went through—they all seemed one dimensional with no personal growth. I never felt any sympathy or empathy for any of them.
There were some distracting grammar errors. Inconsistent spelling of gray/grey and use of single parentheses outside of quoted dialogue. Another distraction was all the redundancy.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway for an honest review. I want to thank Alexandra Norland for the opportunity to read her book.
April 22, 2016
I got this book from a goodreads giveaway. My first, I was excited to get this one!
A very good book. I loved all the extra details that gave a glimpse into the life of the characters. While I had a bit of a hard time keeping up with the numbers of the characters and their names, each character had their own unique personality and thoughts that made it easier as I learned each one.
A very good book. I loved all the extra details that gave a glimpse into the life of the characters. While I had a bit of a hard time keeping up with the numbers of the characters and their names, each character had their own unique personality and thoughts that made it easier as I learned each one.
July 1, 2016
This is a Goodreads win review. This is novel about colonists who came over from England and came to Virginia . This book follows the life of Arabella whose family is wealthy and they bring their slaves also for their plantation. But the American Revolution is about to start and things can change.
May 28, 2019
While I liked the storyline, this book just stretched on way too long. I lost all interest in what happened to the characters. On top of that, the epilogue felt like the author was just rushing to wrap up everything that was left unexplained at the end of the book. I liked the main characters and I liked learning about life for the colonists during the Revolutionary War.
February 7, 2021
This book has been on my radar for a while, and I was delighted when I received it as a holiday gift.
In general, while I enjoyed the story overall, I feel like there needed to be more work to smooth things out. I very much liked most of the characters and enjoyed seeing how they grew and changed with the passage of time from the end of the French and Indian War to the end of the American Revolution. So much changed during that span of time, and it was fascinating to see things play out through the characters' eyes.
That being said, I feel like there needed to be a few more rounds of editing before going to print. There were multiple punctuation issues and errors that disrupted my reading (I used to do a lot of proofreading for friends and classmates in college, so it's practically engrained in me to notice these things). There were massive paragraphs I think ought to have been broken up a bit, whether into actual scenes or even just into smaller paragraphs. I also think that it would have made for easier reading to break things up into traditional chapters, rather than just having large sections, or 'books'. It made it harder to find points to pause during late-night readings.
I very much enjoyed the connections made between the various characters, as we saw in several of Anne Alden's POV sections. And I was tickled to discover that Abraham's eventual fate at the end was clearly inspired by James Armistead, the enslaved man who worked as a spy for Lafayette at Yorktown and who later gained his freedom for his service, even adding Lafayette's name to his own. (Aside: In case you didn't know, JAL's work at Yorktown was given to Hercules Mulligan in the Broadway musical Hamilton.) Watching Arabella's journey to understanding the injustice and evils of slavery and how incompatible it was to the Americans' rhetoric over freedom and liberty over the course of the novel was inspiring, particularly when she takes the final step in freeing the remaining enslaved persons in her household (if only more had had her integrity and followed her example). I also liked how in the epilogue, Norland makes sure to show that not everyone got a happy ending. Georgiana's maid, Sarah, never got the chance to claim her freedom and instead died of smallpox. Cordelia too was denied her freedom and spent the rest of her life as a slave to Arabella's sister, Constance. Even if it's implied that she had a decent life, the fact remains that she was still enslaved, which was the fate suffered for untold thousands of people after the Revolution.
In truth, I think the cast of characters needed to be weeded down a bit. Norland does a decent job of giving each character a significant voice within the story, but it really feels like there was a struggle to include everyone fairly. For example, I think the addition of Priscilla, Spence Alden's second wife, was ultimately unnecessary. She served little purpose except to drive Arabella out of Alden's Hope and to take up residence in Williamsburg (something that could have been achieved without Priscilla), and then to occasionally appear to irritate everyone around her. She did not serve as an effective foil or anything; her role was just not large enough. Not to mention that it was a rather asshole-ish move in that Spence only seemed to marry her to spite Arabella. With this large, unwieldy cast, it not only made it difficult to follow and remember who was who (more than once, I forgot who Callie was and had to stop and think to recall her connection to Arabella), but also served to drag the book out even further than it really needed to be. And also, I think there ought to have been more foreshadowing over the fact that Daniel and Georgiana were going to eventually get together. Instead, we just got that dropped on us in the epilogue as a method of wrapping up the characters' arcs.
Again, this was a really good story, and I enjoyed it immensely, but I feel like it needed some more work to tighten things up before its release.
In general, while I enjoyed the story overall, I feel like there needed to be more work to smooth things out. I very much liked most of the characters and enjoyed seeing how they grew and changed with the passage of time from the end of the French and Indian War to the end of the American Revolution. So much changed during that span of time, and it was fascinating to see things play out through the characters' eyes.
That being said, I feel like there needed to be a few more rounds of editing before going to print. There were multiple punctuation issues and errors that disrupted my reading (I used to do a lot of proofreading for friends and classmates in college, so it's practically engrained in me to notice these things). There were massive paragraphs I think ought to have been broken up a bit, whether into actual scenes or even just into smaller paragraphs. I also think that it would have made for easier reading to break things up into traditional chapters, rather than just having large sections, or 'books'. It made it harder to find points to pause during late-night readings.
I very much enjoyed the connections made between the various characters, as we saw in several of Anne Alden's POV sections. And I was tickled to discover that Abraham's eventual fate at the end was clearly inspired by James Armistead, the enslaved man who worked as a spy for Lafayette at Yorktown and who later gained his freedom for his service, even adding Lafayette's name to his own. (Aside: In case you didn't know, JAL's work at Yorktown was given to Hercules Mulligan in the Broadway musical Hamilton.) Watching Arabella's journey to understanding the injustice and evils of slavery and how incompatible it was to the Americans' rhetoric over freedom and liberty over the course of the novel was inspiring, particularly when she takes the final step in freeing the remaining enslaved persons in her household (if only more had had her integrity and followed her example). I also liked how in the epilogue, Norland makes sure to show that not everyone got a happy ending. Georgiana's maid, Sarah, never got the chance to claim her freedom and instead died of smallpox. Cordelia too was denied her freedom and spent the rest of her life as a slave to Arabella's sister, Constance. Even if it's implied that she had a decent life, the fact remains that she was still enslaved, which was the fate suffered for untold thousands of people after the Revolution.
In truth, I think the cast of characters needed to be weeded down a bit. Norland does a decent job of giving each character a significant voice within the story, but it really feels like there was a struggle to include everyone fairly. For example, I think the addition of Priscilla, Spence Alden's second wife, was ultimately unnecessary. She served little purpose except to drive Arabella out of Alden's Hope and to take up residence in Williamsburg (something that could have been achieved without Priscilla), and then to occasionally appear to irritate everyone around her. She did not serve as an effective foil or anything; her role was just not large enough. Not to mention that it was a rather asshole-ish move in that Spence only seemed to marry her to spite Arabella. With this large, unwieldy cast, it not only made it difficult to follow and remember who was who (more than once, I forgot who Callie was and had to stop and think to recall her connection to Arabella), but also served to drag the book out even further than it really needed to be. And also, I think there ought to have been more foreshadowing over the fact that Daniel and Georgiana were going to eventually get together. Instead, we just got that dropped on us in the epilogue as a method of wrapping up the characters' arcs.
Again, this was a really good story, and I enjoyed it immensely, but I feel like it needed some more work to tighten things up before its release.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 9, 2017
This novel of historical fiction follows Arabella Alden's life on the family plantation, the day-to-day happenings and the challenges faced. It follows the family for a period of two decades. Changes occur and fortunes and lives are at risk. Norland has thoroughly researched this time period. This is a wonderful story. Highly recommended! I received a copy of this book compliments of Goodreads Giveaways for a review.
December 11, 2017
This book was good. I found it to be a well written story of the American Revolution, told through the eyes of an English woman who, with her family, settled in Virginia. The characters were well defined and, though there were many characters to keep track of, they were easy to keep track of after a little while.
*Won as a GoodReads Giveaway*
*Won as a GoodReads Giveaway*
September 22, 2019
3.5/5
I enjoyed reading about Williamsburg before and during the Revolutionary War. I liked the many different points of view that looked at the war from all sides, Patriot, Loyalist and Slave. I now want to go to Williamsburg to walk the streets and find the places that were discussed in the book.
I enjoyed reading about Williamsburg before and during the Revolutionary War. I liked the many different points of view that looked at the war from all sides, Patriot, Loyalist and Slave. I now want to go to Williamsburg to walk the streets and find the places that were discussed in the book.
May 22, 2017
A richly descriptive telling of the world of American colonies in the 1760's. The location and background are, by far, the most fascinating features of this story. The central character, while historically accurate for that time, is rather uninteresting.
July 28, 2020
Enjoyable
It took a while to get into the story and it was a bit slow here and there but overall I enjoyed it.
It took a while to get into the story and it was a bit slow here and there but overall I enjoyed it.
October 10, 2016
I honestly didnt really get into this book...sorry,but the story couldnt hold my interest.
February 25, 2017
I won this book from the Goodreads giveaway. This was a lot of history to enjoy. The word Liberty was very important to most conversations. I enjoyed the letter writing, very sweet. The war had created many hardships for these characters. Very good story.
August 23, 2016
I won "In Liberty's Wake" by Alexandra Norland in a Goodreads.com giveaway in May. I put ito on the bottom of my to read list as I had other books I needed to read and because I was sure I would love it and wanted to take my time. I LOVED, LOVED it!
If you love historical novel, if you love American history, or if you love Williamsburg, VA you will absolutely love this book!
At the end I was limiting the number of pages I could read per day because I didn't want it to end. I am going to miss the many wonderful characters and view them as old friends.
Pick up this book and read it! You may even learn some things about the American Revoluton that you didn't know. You will not be sorry. It is well written and five stars are not enough to give this book. I would give it 10 if I could. Well done Alexandra!
If you love historical novel, if you love American history, or if you love Williamsburg, VA you will absolutely love this book!
At the end I was limiting the number of pages I could read per day because I didn't want it to end. I am going to miss the many wonderful characters and view them as old friends.
Pick up this book and read it! You may even learn some things about the American Revoluton that you didn't know. You will not be sorry. It is well written and five stars are not enough to give this book. I would give it 10 if I could. Well done Alexandra!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews