A Buss from Lafayette: 04/27/18

A Buss from Lafayette by Dorothea Jensen is historical fiction set in New Hampshire in the early years of the United States. It's set against the weeks leading up to the tour General Lafayette took throughout the colonies, celebrating his part in independence.

Clara Hargraves is struggling to come to terms with her family situation: her aunt is now her step-mother and she's expecting a child. Her aunt / step-mother wants Clara to act more like a lady: no more swimming in the pond, no more wearing riding breeches, and no more riding astride a horse.

Although Lafayette's impending arrival is the big story, mostly the book is about the way families change and how Clara and her stepmother come to terms with their relationship. Clara learns things about her stepmother that she didn't know. The stepmother lets her guard down enough to show that she too is grieving for her sister's death. Clara realizes she can love her stepmother and still love her mother.

All in all it's a quiet book about families and about self confidence set in historic times. The choice of setting and the events around Lafayette's visit are inspired by actual events. This book is in part, a fictionalization of that buss (or kiss) that Lafayette gave and is now being passed down through the generations.

Three stars

Comments (0)