A book I have just finished reading is called Chains. This book is written by Laurie Halse Anderson. This book is historical fiction. I usually do not pick up this sort of book, but I thought I should give it a try. When I was finished with the book I just had to sit back and let it sink in, that is how powerful it was. This genre of book never appealed to me before, but now I am eager to try other books like it.
One thing about the book I really liked was the characters. The author really made them become real in your mind. With just a few sentences she had you in the book, no longer in 2010 but in 1776. She had you inside the character's minds, feeling what they felt. I thought the author did a fantastic job of character development. She also blended in all of the other elements of a story with the characters very well. You could smell the gun powder in the air when there was a battle, and at the same time you were frightened because one of the characters was. The whole book just flowed through you and you were lost in the story. I had a very tough time putting it down.
The theme of this book is slavery. The main character is Isabel, a slave who has just lost her master to old age and is sold to another master in a whole different state. This book portrays her struggles, hardships, and achievements. Slavery in this time was at a high point, you rarely found someone selling a slave, or a slave without work. However some masters were letting their slaves free. This was a detail I found to be interesting, I thought that most slave owners held on to their slaves until they were forced to free them. The thought of masters letting their slaves go free never crossed my mind.
A quote in the book is "Ruth stood their like a carved statue, her finger still held to her lips. I took another breath, slower than the first, and tried not to think on the newly sharpened knives on the kitchen steps." The reason I liked this quote is the thought of going to get the kitchen knives. It made me wonder how many slaves revolted against their masters, and if it was a smart choice. Later on in the book I came back to that thought and decided it was a bad choice because your master could always sell you to an even worse master, or beat you to death. The cruel part of the beating is that it was allowed, in the book it says Isabel's new master once beat their other slave until her arm broke. Her arm never healed right so they sold her like a rag doll.
A connection in the book I made was to the title. It gives you clues as to why the author chooses that title. It is towards the end of the book when Isabel is trying to escape. Isabel says she is not going to let her master chain her, or her soul. That was a moment when all of the pieces fit together perfectly. Another connection was the illustration on the front cover of the book. It shows a girl with her hands up with a ribbon symbolizing chains with the title on them. On one side of her hands is a bird with a british flag, on the other side there is a bird with an american flag. This really connects with the book in so many ways. However you do not realize it until you read the book. I know I interpreted the chains part of the cover, but I did not take another glance at the birds. It connects because in the book the British loyalists are fighting theAmerican patriots, so each of the birds represents a side in the battle.
The battles taking place in the book were quite confusing to me because I did not know what side would be the good and what side was the bad. After I finished the book I looked back by where the author's note is and I found a section where the author answers questions. There it said you should not think of it as a good/bad situation. You have to choose which side on your beliefs and your needs. Many of the slaves in the book joined the battles and their were some on the loyalist's side and some were fighting for the patriots.
This book is really powerful in it's own way and I think anyone would enjoy reading it. I hope whoever has an interest in learning more about history, but does not like non-fiction books will pick up this book. It is a great story, and a source of information. However you do have to pickapart some of the major details in the story.
Sincerely,
Lauren V
