Book Review: Emma of Aurora

Emma of Aurora by Jane Kirkpatrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a set of three books set in the late 1800's about Emma, who starts out as a young woman with eyes for an older man in her colony.  They live in a cooperative community run by Wilhelm Keil, who is a thorn in Emma's side (and mine!) for the entire series.  Keil chooses to send her new husband, who she's had very little time with due to Keil's missions for him, as one of the scouts who go to the west coast to look for land to move the colony as Keil feels it is getting too many outside influences. Emma is a bit spirited for the community and talks her way into being sent along as well.  The series follows Emma and the scouts on their journey and the development of the new colony.  More details would give away too many surprises (not always good ones!), but the series was good. The historical details of the book are so interesting, and at the end of the third book we find that Emma and the colony are true historical characters fleshed out by the author, and that one can still visit the historical colony of Aurora.  Emma changes throughout the series through the hardships and joys she suffers in her life.  They were somewhat frustrating to read, as through most of the books, Emma separates herself and tends to think the worst of people as she struggles with being part of the colony and being dependent on others due to her circumstances.  It takes until the third book for Emma to return to her faith and find the joy in her life and those around her.  That is definitely the redeeming book for Emma as she takes the colony's initial mission of making other's lives better than one's own to heart and lives it out.  The things that happen to Emma definitely merit the frustration she has, though i would have liked to see her grow more as a person in the first two books as well as the third.  Perhaps that's more my (as the reader) desire to help her avoid the struggles her decisions lead her to.  I would recommend these books, and encourage the reader to read all of them, and the third book is definitely where Emma shines and shows her Godly character growth.  It is interesting to see the goals and lives of those in the colony grow and change as well from the picture we get of them in the first book or so.  I'd love to add the historical Aurora Colony to the list of sites to see if we ever travel to the west coast!

I recieved a copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.


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