Review: Romance, not History
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 24, 2013
You know I am a sucker for fiction written in time periods usually ignored by historians and the public alike. Perhaps it is the history teacher in me that finds it difficult to teach topics that don't have much literature to add sparkle to boring black-and-white photographs, but when I find a historical fiction novel written in an ignored time period, like antebellum Vanguard of Hope, I applaud! Then I carefully examine the novel for quality, both in writing and historical research.Vanguard of Hope, the first book in the Sapphire Brigade series by Kathy Steinemann, is written as the diary entries of Hope, an unhappily married woman who has just celebrated her thirtieth birthday. Although Hope has been married for several years, she has not told anyone of the years of sexual abuse by her father. Perhaps through the therapeutic effects of writing in a diary, she reveals her dark secrets to her family and begins to explore her sexuality. Unfortunately, one of her lovers is an African-American man named Solomon, which places both her marriage and life on the line in the 1890s deep South.At first, Vanguard of Hope reminded me of an adult version of the Dear America books I read in elementary school, as they were a snapshot of women in various time periods written in diary form. But, while the Dear America books were used by my teachers in both history and English class, I would not recommend this book to be read for historical value, as it is not accurately based on historical research. There were several historical anachronisms, including inappropriate language and unlikely reactions to racism and pedophilia. Although Steinemann could have even edited the novel more for grammatical mistakes, I enjoyed Vanguard of Hope as simply an intriguing, page-turning romance novel.