Consider being the daughter of a Kentucky slave owner and coming to the knowledge that what you’ve known your entire life is absolutely and morally wrong. How does one cope with personal convictions when they defy familial norms? It’s 1857 and America Leighton finds herself in this exact situation.
Three years away at radical Oberlin College in Ohio has convinced America that her family’s way of life could be completely wrong. Tamera Lynn Kraft’s Red Sky Over America centers on this very sensitive subject. How does one walk out the gospel when that gospel requires defying everything you’ve known to be true?
Not only does America find herself in direct confrontation with her father whom she dearly loves, but also struggling with the decision of whether to spend her life with the man whom her father deems fit, or the man whom America has secretly fallen for.
Kraft grants the slave characters in her book intelligence, compassion and great depth of personality, attributes not often seen in novels dealing with slavery. Readers will find themselves filled with compassion for the plight of those trapped in the horrors of slavery, while also hoping those holding them hostage will eventually come to see the error of their ways.
The character Harland Boidae adds a bit of a devilish twist as readers strive to determine whether his motives are sincere.
Red Sky Over America is certainly a story worth reading.
***A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. This review contains my own thoughts and opinions.