Review by Tina Rice of "Mercy in a Red Cloak"

Review by Tina Rice of Mercy in a Red Cloak 

by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Mercy Clarke is the daughter of a circuit-rider preacher in 1700’s Pennsylvania frontier. She is a woman of faith, hard-working, strong courageous woman and honorable. She often sacrifices much of her own interests for her father, Jonathan, and is often left alone as he performs his circuit-rider duties. I admire her strength and courage as she is often alone on the frontier; I don’t know if I would have handled it as well.

Shadrach Clark is a handsome, highly skilled colonial scout and a little confused and disappointed when he first meets Mercy and her father. Part of the confusion is that they each have the same last name but spelled a bit differently. The disappointment comes when Shadrach learns that they are not his family he has spent years searching for. I admire his courage and strength as a scout at such a young age and his dedication to finding his family.

I enjoyed watching as their friendship slowly turns to courtship and possibly more. But their sweet courtship is filled with danger and often times of separation. When Mercy’s father and Shadrach both are missing this courageous woman embarks on a long journey to Mackinac Island on the Michigan frontier. On her long arduous journey she faces many challenges, hardships, sacrifices, some unexpected surprises and dangerous situations, but nothing will stop her from searching for her loved ones. Will she find them in time before the increasingly unsettled climate escalates and she finds herself in a far more dangerous situation than she previously experienced?

Mercy in a Red Cloak is an action-packed story filled with dangerous times of a harsh frontier life, sorrows and joys, love, historical facts woven within the story-line and faith. I appreciate the spiritual elements woven throughout the story-line and the characters lives. The reader is taken on a journey from Germantown, Pennsylvania to Mackinaw Island, Michigan and to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of 1700’s frontier. The author portrays these historical locations and events with vivid detail that captures the elements of the time and this reader. A wonderful, heartwarming story. 

Giveaway: A kindle or paperback copy of Mercy in a Red Cloak will be given away to one commenter.

Tina St.Clair Rice is Colonial Quills reader/reviewer. Tina is a wife, mother, and grandmother and a former nurse. She lives on the east coast with her family and is an active supporter of Christian fiction writers.