Review of The Golden Cross by Angela Elwell Hunt

Product Description from Amazon.com 

THE HEIRS OF CAHIRA O’CONNOR SERIES
BOOK TWO

A line of women who would be warriors for truth

“It is said that as Cahira, daughter of the great Irish king Rory O’Connor, lay dying of a wound from a Norman blade, she lifted her hand toward heaven and beseeched God that others would follow after her, bright stars who would break forth from the courses to which they are bound and restore right in this murderous world…”
"To Kathleen O’Connor, Cahira’s story is nothing more than a charming legend—until her research divulges that several of Cahira’s heirs did, indeed, leave the traditional roles of womanhood to fight for right. Stunned, Kathleen realizes she herself bears Cahira’s mark. Is Kathleen destined to continue the legacy in the twenty-first century?
To discover how the histories of these women relate to her own future, Kathleen must delve deep into the past to learn the truth about The Heirs of Cahira O’Connor…"

"Aidan O’Connor was raised among pickpockets and prostitutes in a Dutch colony on Java, Indonesia. But when a world-famous cartographer discovers her natural artistic talent, she is given a chance to leave her troubled life behind. Disguised as a boy, Aidan joins her benefactor at sea and begins the work of drawing the flora and fauna of the new world. This fresh beginning leads her into adventure--and to a great love. But can this love survive the force of Aidan’s past…and her ambitions for her future?"

 Thus is the premise of this series of women descended from Cahira O'Connor. This story starts out with Kathleen O'Connor, in the present day researching her ancestor. She has inherited the trademark of her ancesters, a white swath of hair streaked through her bright auburn hair. Kathleen is researching her ancestors and finds that her descendents were very strong women who fought for what was right for women. Kathleen has to search within journals and papers to find out how these women impact her own future.

It is 1642 and Aidan O'Connor lives in poverty in the Dutch colony Java, Indonesia and has to survive being a pickpocket in a drinking establishment where her mother is a procuress for the sailors that come to find food, drink and women after a long sea voyage. Aidan is a very talented artist but untrained. She meets an elderly cartographer, Mr.Van Dyke,who encourages her talent and takes Aidan ,disquised as a boy, to sea to paint flora and fauna that they will encounter in this expeditious voyage. Their journey is fraught with danger from the sea and from enemies of Aidan, family of the cartographer,who think that Aidan is after their inheritance. There is also the chance of discovery that she is a she and not a he. One of the characters, a physician, Sterling Thorne, who is onboard as the ships surgeon sees through her disguise and Aidan fears that her past will catch up with her and ruin any chance of her becoming a wellknown artist and losing the man she loves. In this story, other famous people are portrayed, like Governor Van Diemen and Abel Tasman. This was the first expedition that Abel Tasman had and the place that was called Van Diemen's Land is now called Tasmania.

My thoughts on this book:

I enjoyed this novel, I found it to be well written and I liked how the characters were portrayed especially Aidan as very strong willed women who knew what she wanted to do in her life and fought to get it. The story was well researched and was easy to read.The only problem I had was that this is book #2 in the series and as I had not read #1,some things didn't make sense.I will definitely read more of this author. I highly recommend it.

Did you know??
"Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania. Landing at Blackman's Bay and later having the Dutch flag flown at North Bay, Tasman named the island Anthoonij van Diemenslandt in honour of Anthony van Diemen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies who had sent Tasman on his voyage of discovery in 1642. Between 1772 and 1798 only the South East of the island was visited. Tasmania was not known to be an island until Matthew Flinders and George Bass circumnavigated it in the Norfolk in 1798-99.

In 1803, the island was colonised by the British as a penal colony with the name Van Diemen's Land, and became part of the British colony of New South Wales. In 1824, Van Diemen's Land became a colony in its own right. In 1856 the colony was granted responsible self-government with its own representative parliament, and the name of the island and colony was changed to Tasmania."

source: Wikipedia.org




About the Author
Christy Award winner ANGELA ELWELL HUNT writes for readers who have learned to expect the unexpected in novels. With over three million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the best-selling author of more than one hundred works.

I received this book as part of The Value Fiction “Grab Bag” blog tour. I was not compensated monetarily for my honest review.