I really liked the first 200 pages of this book. A Story about two women, Clara Flowers, a black woman and Catalyntie, a Dutch woman who were captured by Seneca indians as children and returned to their white world as young adults when a treaty is negotiated.

They now must try to forget their native identities and adapt in a world of racism and prejudice against women in general. The book though a little on the unbelievable in pace was an interesting look at life as an indian, the fur trade and white America/French Canadian relations in pre-revolution days.

There is a love interest for both women in the form of Malcolm, a ruggedly handsome man, an idealist who is dominated by a step-mother and looks after the women in their fur trading venture.

As I said I really liked the story ... at first. Then after 200 pages the wheels fell off the story. It degenerated into a love triangle as the two women fight for Malcolm's attention.

The story falls from historical fiction to historical romance and that is not my cup of tea and I could not finish the book. ( )

Set in the days of Colonial America, this book tells the story of identity, namely, the birth of the American identity. Most of the setting is in New York, where one sees the clashes between the Dutch and the English and the African slaves against their white captors.

The plot was thin in many places. Thomas Fleming had both good writing days and bad days while writing this novel. There were moments of clunky dialogue and the book moving at a "not quite right" pace. The historical details, however, are phenomenal. You know Thomas Fleming did the research, and somehow it didn't feel like I was reading a textbook. The characters weren't entirely likable, Catalyntie was a sluttier version of Scarlet O'Hara and Clara was Little Miss Perfect, but the entire package was a real treat. I've already nabbed a copy of "Liberty Tavern," which is a sort of sequel even though it was written 23 years before this book.

pgs. 396-97 "No one recognizes that name (Americans) in New York. You're English or Dutch or Jewish or French or Irish. American is the name of a continent, not a race." ( )

Recommended by Marion. Novel about pre-Revolutionary America.