Review: Interesting Historical Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 30, 2013
I'm always amazed when fiction writers can intertwine history with their stories and that is how I felt reading "Depression Carpenter". The main character is Jake Ferry - a wealthy Princeton graduate during the Depression who, years earlier, had been the only survivor in a car accident that killed his entire family. Unimpressed by his own wealth and aristocracy, Jake packs a box of carpentry tools and work clothes, buys a big Ford station wagon, and sets out on a road trip through the deep south.Java Davis does a great job of bringing details of history into her story and it's clear that she did all the necessary research. If the story at times feels slow, it's because Jake is on a personal journey more than an adventure - a journey that encompasses his personal struggle between being the aristocratic persona he left behind and the person that he is now, making a difference in a poverty-stricken world to those less fortunate.I liked that this was a story told through a timeline of Jake's experiences state-to-state. However,  because the chapters run together without distinguishable headings, I felt it was easy to miss the all-important transition noted by the author from one experience to the next. This is such an easy fix, though, and would better emphasize the obvious amount of detailed historical research that went into each section of the story and of Jake's journey.Historical fiction is so much easier to read when the characters are interesting and real as they are in Depression Carpenter. Ms. Davis is truly a talented writer and I look forward to reading more of her stories.