Lake in the Clouds

Rating:
Summary: Back home 10 years later.
Review: After having read the first two books in the series I wasn't sure what to expect other than Sara Donati's excellent style of writing. The first book was outstanding, the second one okay but the third one...Hmmmmm On the first reading I was a little disappointed but only because I wanted more Elizabeth and Nathaniel but got a lot of Hannah and some Lily. Hannah has grown into a strikingly beautiful young woman who turns out to be an exceptional "medicine woman". An ironic twist is that she is studying under and working with, Richard Todd, who long ago claimed her as his own daughter. After rereading, the book became a favorite. The initial disappointment came from less of the two main characters and more of their children which tends to happen in a family series. There is a lot of 18C medical practices which proved to be very interesting and as expected, Hannah ended up marrying an Indian and going off with him to his home. When she leaves her uncle Otter, who brought her future husband to Lake in the Clouds, leaves also along with Hawkeye. It leaves one with the fear that we'll never see Hawkeye again but who knows what's in store for the next book. The all time favorite was Into the Wilderness with Lake in the Clouds second and Dawn on a Distant Shore third in interest. I eagerly await the next book in the series though.

Rating:
Summary: 3rd in a breathtaking series.
Review: Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner are back in their beloved mountain home in New York state.The village is still suffering from the after effects of a typhoid epidemic and Hannah, Nathaniels daughter from his first marriage, is studying to be a doctor under the tutelage of Dr. Richard Todd. He semds her to the city to learn the process of vaccination so that she might return to innoculate all of the villagers and also the local Indians. Elizabeth and Nathaniel smuggle a runaway slave to Canada which results in "blackbirders"-slave bounty hunters, arriving in Paradise, the village near their home to try to implicate the Bonners and their friends in the escape.It's a great third book in the series and I can't wait for book 4.

Rating:
Summary: 3rd in a breathtaking series.
Review: Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner are back in their beloved mountain home in New York state.The village is still suffering from the after effects of a typhoid epidemic and Hannah, Nathaniels daughter from his first marriage, is studying to be a doctor under the tutelage of Dr. Richard Todd. He semds her to the city to learn the process of vaccination so that she might return to innoculate all of the villagers and also the local Indians. Elizabeth and Nathaniel smuggle a runaway slave to Canada which results in "blackbirders"-slave bounty hunters, arriving in Paradise, the village near their home to try to implicate the Bonners and their friends in the escape.It's a great third book in the series and I can't wait for book 4.

Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: I eagerly awaited this book and was disappointed with it.
I had to force myself to read it waiting for something to happen!
I loved the first 2 books, but Lake in the Clouds was dragged out and just didn't keep me riveted.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe tries to pack too much in?
Review: I like Sarah Donati's willingness to address epic landscapes and plots. I really liked Into the Wilderness a great deal, and I am glad to see her continuing with her interesting characters from that novel in Dawnon a Distant Shore and in this novel.

I think my basic concern here is that she tries to do too much in this novel--we have abolitionists, smallpox, Hannah's search to decide which path to follow in her life, and Elizabeth's mid-life struggle to balance the safety of her family with outside commitments and needs, all rolled up in one book. Some of the most interesting sub-plots here get the least focus--I feel like Elizabeth got lost in this novel, when she clearly has needs and concerns.

I continue to have trouble with the denizens of Paradise (oddly ironic name for a place that appears to be quite devoid of blessings). They are so unappealing that they clash with the beauty of the natural surroundings and the Bonner family's values and sense of personal history and space that I really love.

I ended up liking this book and admiring Hannah, Elizabeth and Nathaniel all over again, but not loving it.

Rating:
Summary: Do I love this book? I don't know! I think so!
Review: I love Sara Donati's writing. I love the Paradise setting and the cast of characters. I can't say positively that I loved Lake in the Clouds, though. I loved parts of it, and I found myself skipping other parts.

I felt that the book was inaccurately named -- it should have been called "Hannah's Story" rather than "Lake in the Clouds". This book (when not distracted by a storyline about runaway slaves) deals almost entirely with Hannah Bonner's coming of age, and her choices -- is she white, or is she Kahnyenkehaka (that's Mohawk to those not in the know).

I was pleased by LitC after reading Dawn on a Distant Shore. Donati returned to the setting that made her story, and it shines like a jewel in the pages of LitC. We return to all the foibles and passions of a little town named Paradise set in the wilderness, and the supporting cast are the characters that truly shine in this book.

Overall it starts out a bit slower than I anticipated, but by the end I was unable to put it down. Well done, Sara!

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read
Review: I loved Into The Wilderness, but was not impressed at all with Dawn on a Distant Shore. I was given Lake in the Clouds as a gift, and I have to say that Ms. Donati redeemed herself fully from the DOADS debacle. LITC is a great read - exciting, emotional and beautifully written. I highly recommend it and can't wait for the next book to come out in paperback!

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Read!
Review: I must say that I was not sure how good this book was going to be, because I was a bit disappointed with Dawn on a Distant Shore. But Donati is back on sure footing here, and is writing about what she knows. I found the 8 year or so time lapse from the end of Dawn on a Distant Shore disconcerting at first, but it ended up being effective, allowing us to see the maturing of LIly and Daniel & especially Hannah (although Lily spoke a bit too maturely for a girl of her young years). It was nice to see all of the old characters and to meet some new ones. Hannah is very likable (and for Diana Gabaldon fans who are also Sara Donati fans perhaps you might appreciate that Hannah is a character entirely unto herself, rather than an extension of her father, as Brianna Fraser seems to be). Some bits were confusing, but will clear up after a second read--however, the last 200 pages or so are tremendously exciting, as the reader is back in Paradise with a terrific plot. All in all, I would say it was a very good book--I enjoyed it and will definitely read it again and again. I have to say that I feared the series would tire itself out, but it has not--in fact, it leaves me with anticipation of another book. Fantastic job, Ms. Donati!

Rating:
Summary: Lake in the Clouds
Review: Loved this one! It was good to have the Bonners back in America and to follow the steps of Hannah as she grows into womanhood. What a strong independent young woman she has turned out to be. Sara Donati is one of today's most brilliant historical fiction novelists.

Rating:
Summary: A Bit of a Let Down, but Still Entertaining
Review: Of the three books so far in the series, this is my least favorite, and I am sure it is because the focus has shifted from Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner to Hannah, Nathaniel's daughter by his first wife, who was an Indian. Hannah is just entirely too noble for this reader to relate to comfortably, and, indeed, I found that the Bonners & many of their neighbors are starting to become a little too politically correct for their time period. In the first book of the series I felt that because Elizabeth was a follower of Mary Wolstonecraft Shelley her feminist point of view was understandable, and her character is still consistent with those principles. The fact that most of the other "good guys" feel the same way is perhaps stretching the truth of the time period a little thin, although Donati does give a more balanced portrait of a conflicted character in bounty-hunter Liam Kirby.

Hannah's determination to become a doctor couldn't have arrived at a worse time, as even female midwives were being forced out of practice in the more populated areas because the use of obstetrical forceps were reserved for men. However, in this book Hannah being part Indian is more of a barrier to becomming being a doctor than being a women, which is just not realistic. The fact that she is half Indian and cannot decide for much of the book which side of her heritage has the bigger claim is the main plot driver. That also brings in one of the more appealing characters in the book, the Indian Strikes the Sky. The most interested parts of the book in my opinion are the ones that take place in New York City, and involve the Almshouse, manumission of slaves, and the Tammany Society. In other words, the closer Donati stayed to history the better the book.

Still and all, this book is a cut above the run of the mill historical romance -- although Bantam has not, rightly in my opinion, classifed it as a romance novel, but rather as a straight historical. It is full of rich detail, and has an earthy quality that is missing in so many books that deal with this period, when it is dealt with at all. For those who are looking for an enjoyable novel set in post-Revolutionary War America this is a good choice.