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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Pursuit of Happiness by Sheldon Greene

This book takes place during the American Revolution and stars a young man named Joshua.  Though Joshua's family hasn't taken sides, Joshua agrees to aid General Washington by locating a shipment of French arms and talking a Jewish ship owner into running the British Blockade.  Along the way, he meets and falls for Amelia, the wife of a brutal slave owner.

I'm having a really difficult time with this review because it took me several days to read it.  There are days when I can easily wolf down three or four books at a time, but this one has taken me nearly a week.  Honestly, this is my own fault and not that of the author.  It's beautifully written, even poetic in parts.  The characters are alive and interesting.  It appears to be true to life and factual.  The reason it took so long to read is that I had to take in every single word.

I've been sitting here trying to figure out exactly why I didn't absolutely love this book.  There's nothing wrong with it.  It's actually one of the best attempts at literature that I've seen in a long time.  I think my problem with the book is that I just don't care about the Tories and Whigs.  Ben, if you're reading this, I apologize.  I felt in parts like I was back in history class my junior year.  It was definitely more interesting than that ragged old history book I had, but nonetheless, it's politics and war.  Overlooking that, this was a great read.  Again, my fault...not Sheldon's.

I strongly recommend this to history buffs and those who love literature versus fluff.  I personally enjoy both :) 

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