THE STONECUTTER'S DAUGHTER

Author: Janet Woods ISBN: 0743484002 11/2005 HISTORICAL Publisher: POCKET BOOKS
Time Period: Victorian 1838

Dorset, 1838. The evening after a violent storm, a taciturn stonecutter prowling the Portland coast in search of plunder finds himself in posession of the most priceless treasure of all; a crying, hungry baby girl strapped securely in her cradle has miraculously survived the battering of the waves. With no children of their own, Joseph Rushmore and his wife adopt the infant and bring her up as their daughter. The child blossoms into a beautful young woman. blissfully ignorant of the extraordinary truth about her origins. But Joanna Rushmore's happy childhood is about to come to a shattering end. For the past cannot be kept hidden for forever, and the secret of Joanna's birth is destined to catapult her into a future she could never have dreamed of, causing untold heartache, an impossible dilemna, and - finally - a passionate love.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Have you ever read a book that was flawless? A book in which there is not a single bad line or word, or even one wrong spelling? THE STONECUTTER'S DAUGHTER is that book for me.

THE STONECUTTER'S DAUGHTER is a saga of a young girl's life and how the actions of our past can affect us so profoundly in the future. When Joseph Rushmore finds a crying baby down on the beach by his house, he sees it as a sign from God, for his wife cannot carry a baby to full term. After years of trying to have a baby, God has granted them baby Joanna Rose. They take her in and care for her, never telling another soul that she is not their real daughter.

Joanna grows into a fine, beautiful young woman, and it is plain from the very beginning that she is destined for great things. When her parents both die and her lecherous cousins take over her family house and try to make her marry one of them, she runs, and eventually finds herself in the home of the one man who can make sense of her life, the one man who can give her everything that she rightfully deserves.

THE STONECUTTER'S DAUGHTER is a beautiful, poignant story that brought tears to my eyes more than once. Janet Woods is a superbly gifted writer who knows how to tell a story like no other.

Kristal Gorman