Christian Bookworm

In this book, we meet the Harban and the Boyle family. The setting for this book is after the end of the Civil War and the Harban family are former slaves who are making the move to Nicodemus, KS, to an all black town established there. The two men who planned the town and traveled to the South to convince people to move there weren’t quite as honest as they should have been, and when the poorly equipped travelers arrived at what was to be Nicodemus, they discovered there was nothing there but prairie. The settlers had no choice but to pool their resources and managed to make it through the first winter, but not without difficulty and death.
The Boyle family is a Southern family with the exception of Samuel Boyle, who was raised in the North and has different views on slavery than those from the South. He decides to move his family to Hill City, KS which was a city located near Nicodemus. The Boyle family is not that happy about moving and face difficulties of their own in moving to their new home.
Two families from two different backgrounds struggling to make it in their new homes. Will they be successful? Will the views of the Boyle family be changed to see that the former slaves are people too, or will they be set in their ways and unwilling to change? Will their faith sustain them in these rough times?
I had never heard of Nicodemus or of an all black town and was fascinated to read about the first inhabitants and their struggle and determination, when logically they shouldn’t have survived that first winter.
I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t wait to read book two, Morning Sky. What did you think?