Book Review Discussion: An Ocean Atween Us by Angela Morrison

Book: An Ocean Atween us by Angela Morrison
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Rating:★★★★☆
For: Fun
From: ebook bought from Amazon

Short Synopsis: This is the story of young Will Glover who works as a coal miner in Scotland in the 1800s. As the book opens, he has just realized he's in love with Lucie and he makes big plans to ask her to marry him. But then, that very day in fact, his father decides to set sail across to Canada, to Nova Scotia (New Scotland... something I just learned from this book!) to make his fortune, and of course, take the whole family with him. Will is devastated. But he goes anyway, and hopes to come back for Lucie.

My Response: Based on the ancestors of the author (her great great great grandmother's big brother to be specific) I found this to be a fun look into the past of what could have been the story of many of our families. It's written in very heavy Scottish brogue which takes some getting used to, but I found it to be very endearing and I actually ended up quite loving it. I could hear that accent in my head and what's better than a Scottish accent? Not much I tell you. The story is a simple one but still holds much emotion and excitement. I found it so hard to believe that a kid this young (14 to 15 years old) would be doing the things (and wanting the things, like to get married already!) that this kid does. I guess that's how it was back then? And people aged so fast doing this hard work!

Bottom Line: I really enjoyed it. Fun family tale.

Let's Talk About: Do you have family stories of your ancestors? Have you written them down, in any form at all? I love how this author has taken a family story and embellished it, given it emotion and characters and richness, and turned it into a novel. I love that! I'd love to do the same thing to my family stories some day! What family story would you love to turn into a novel?