Bound To Stay Bound

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Booklist - 09/15/2009 Lavinia’s pristine community in the Cumberland Mountains is about to be shattered by a new planned utopian settlement led by Englishman Thomas Hughes. While some folks welcome the change of pace and new job opportunities, Viney reacts with shock and defiance. Some of the newcomers are arrogant and the felling of so many trees crushes the gifted young weaver’s heart. Donaldson portrays stark social realities of 1870s America, in which Viney has to battle suspicion and doubt when she is assaulted and endure endless prodding to dress more ladylike to attract a man. As one young Englishman works hard to gain her favor over several months, however, a gradual transformation takes place in her heart. Based on actual events, this is historical romance with strong characters and plot development that illuminates without romanticizing the past. - Copyright 2009 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 12/01/2009 Gr 7–9— In 1880, in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee, Viney Walker, 16, lives on a subsistence farm with her sister and brother. All are accustomed to long days of hard labor, but Viney makes time for her art—weavings that make warm blankets and add beauty to drab mountain cabins. When men from an English utopian settlement begin to tear down the forest to clear land for their new farms and town, Viney is outraged and determined to undermine the settlement. A few tricks, however, cannot stop progress, and the teen despairs of losing not only her way of life, but also her sister to the wiles of an Englishman. Just as she begins to appreciate what the settlement has to offer, and to fall in love with one of the young men who comes to work there, disaster strikes. Based on the life of Dicey Fletcher and the ill-fated Rugby colony, this book offers a glimpse into the lives of women in the mountains during this period. While Viney's disinterest in marriage and family makes her unusual in her time, she is a somewhat drab heroine by today's standards. Offer this novel to fans of historical fiction and light romance who won't be put off by the absence of a happy ending.—Caroline Tesauro, Radford Public Library, VA - Copyright 2009 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 01/01/2010 It’s the late nineteenth century, and sixteen-year-old Viney is bemoaning the arrival of British settlers who have come to establish a Christian Utopian society near her home in Tennessee’s Cumberland Mountains. Her sister Lizzie has a different take, finding excitement in the new community and hoping for a wealthy Brit to marry; Viney, however, is stubbornly opposed to giving up her independence and her weaving for marriage and babies. When a young British farmer named Charlie Breckenridge starts coming around to help out on the farm, Viney sees it as an opportunity to feign a courtship and stop the idle gossip of neighbors—but the plan turns it something more than Viney expected. Based upon the real-life Rigby settlement, established in 1880 in Tennessee, the story benefits from a solid historical setting, and it provides extensive detail about the community. It is the characters and relationships that carry this novel, however: Viney is an extremely appealing lead, full of grit and determination and prone to social faux pas, and readers will enjoy getting into her head as she navigates the unfamiliar waters of friendship and romance. An author’s note provides historical information, and a glossary is included. HM - Copyright 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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