Review: Carry Me Home by Dorothy Adamek

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Finella Mayfield hates two things: liars and thieves. And she's determined to marry a man who's neither. Chasing her dead father's dreams, the twenty-year-old English bride arrives in Australia in 1875 for an arranged marriage. Anticipating her future as village preacher's wife, she records her thoughts in her Everlasting journal.

But instead of her fiancé, Finella is met by Shadrach Jones, a poor farmer sent to collect her from the busy Melbourne pier.

This is not what her father planned. And it's only the beginning of the unraveling of Finella Mayfield ~ the bride with no groom.

All Shadrach longs for is rows of mustard and chicory. He's busy growing a farm near the Phillip Island fishing village of Cowes, and caring for Molly, his simple sister. Far from the brutal life they remember with their ex-convict father, Shadrach's building something new.

But he's also made a promise to a dying friend. To collect and marry the English girl destined to never be a preacher's wife.

Can Shadrach convince Finella she has a future with a farmer? Can he convince himself, knowing his family secrets will haunt their future?

My Thoughts:

My words will not do justice to this beautiful story of two people who are destined to love each other but have quite an uphill battle to get there. Author Adamek takes us to the Australian prairie as we travel with Finella so that she may meet and marry her fiancé. Unbeknownst to her, she is in for much more tragedy than she would have thought possible.

Shadrach Jones has come to fulfill his promise to his dying friend and to take care of Finella by eventually marrying her. His wooing is a bit uncouth, but he is a man. He and Finella do not really see eye to eye, but both care very much for his 14 year old special needs sister, Molly. I would say that Molly is the glue that holds them together at first.

Shadrach is romantic in his own special way and when he wants to show Finella that he wants her to stay, he does so in a spectacular way. This was a very romantic story about a man and woman’s struggle to find themselves and each other in a country where convicts were once sent and to get past ill-conceived notions and prejudices.

I purchased this book when it first came out and finally sat down to read it. I cannot believe I let it sit on my shelf for that long. This is the first in a planned series and I look forward to and hope to get more of Shadrach and Finella’s story.