Browsing: Historical Fiction

Orion Poe is an eleven-year-old boy who lives in Maine with his grandfather who is the caretaker of a lighthouse. When a large storm rolls in one evening, Orion discovers a washed-up boat and an injured man. From this moment on, he finds himself fighting for survival on a mysterious expedition full of unexpected and non-stop adventure that is connected to the historic event of an explorer, John Franklin, who was lost in the Arctic in 1847.

In 43 relatively short digestible chapters, author Gwen Dandridge has weaved a mysterious and magical tale centered round the historic 1400s when Arabs and Christians were at war over holy lands. Drenched in Islamic culture, the rich backdrop for this suspense-building novel is the magnificent Alhambra Palace.

This should be a sad tale but instead is up-lifting. Much of that is due to the protagonist’s wry voice: Twelve-year-old Bee (short for Beatrice) is an orphan and works for a traveling carnival, living in the back of a truck with nineteen-year-old Pauline.