Barbara Woster’s ‘Victim of Love’ isn’t your average love story, and in fact, isn’t really a love story at all. It is a tale of one man’s love and another man’s obsession, and how their compulsion to obtain or retain the woman of their dreams sets events in motion that threaten the lives of their entire communities, and perhaps more importantly, endangers the life of their love interest.
Set amongst the uneasy truce between white settlers and the First Nations people of the Americas, Cara intervenes when Rankin, the local lawman, publicly whips the Indian maiden he has enslaved, saving her from probable death. Their attempt to reunite the maiden with her tribe backfires when their chief, Running River, takes a shine to the white woman accompanying his sister, Skips Along the Water, back home.
What follows is a harrowing tale of how Casey tries to save his fiancée by hunting down the man who defiled the chief’s sister. Meanwhile, Cara is held captive and must come to terms with her new life as the ‘wife’ of the chief. Cara and her Indian counterpart, Skips Along the Water, learn more about each other’s culture during Cara’s forced habitation among the people, and they are strengthened by their interaction.
The story moves along at a rapid pace, taking the reader along for the ride. It’s not an easy read as it deals with stereotypes of the characters in the American Frontier, prejudices from both sides, and the aftermath of the dogmatic male’s claim on his woman, so typical to the time. However, it is a good read and is well-written for the most part, with only minor editing issues that momentarily detract from the story. The plot and storyline is believable and all scenes are relevant and move the plot forward. Her characters are well-written and grow with the story, particularly the women. The main male characters still appear to be set in their ways and remain so to the tragic end, while I feel character development focussed on the female characters.
I felt the cover didn’t accurately reflect the stories setting, however, the superbly succinct blurb shows in a nutshell the basic plot of the story.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, and award 4.5 stars.
