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Title: The Purchase

Author: Linda Spalding

Narrator: Robin Miles

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-01-16

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In 1798 Daniel Dickinson, a young Quaker, sets out with two horses, a wagon full of belongings, his five children and a 15-year-old orphan wife.

When Daniel suddenly trades a horse for a young slave, Onesimus, it sets in motion a struggle in his conscience that will taint his life forever and a chain of events that lead to two murders and the family's strange relationship with a runaway slave named Bett.

Members Reviews:

Brilliant

Linda Spalding's new novel The Purchase is a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction. Trust me, it's an absolute must read.

1798. Daniel Dickinson is a devout Quaker. But when his wife dies leaving him with five young children and he quickly marries Ruth, a fifteen year old orphan, he is cast out of the fellowship. With no home and no community, he then packs his family in a wagon and heads to Virginia to homestead. At an auction to buy needed farming tools, Daniel instead ends up with a young slave boy. As an abolitionist, this goes against everything he believes in. This purchase is the catalyst for a series of events that will change the lives of family, friends, enemies and more.

I literally hurtled through the first part of The Purchase. Spalding drew me into the lives of the Dickinson family. The characters are exceptionally well drawn. Daniel struggles with his ownership of Onesimus, his marriage to a girl he doesn't even know, his efforts to build a new life for his children in a wilderness that he is ill prepared for and trying to follow his beliefs. His oldest daughter Mary is stubborn, petulant, wilful but also kind and giving. But not to her stepmother. But it is quiet, silent Ruth that I was most drawn to. And to the slave Bett as well. There is a large cast of characters, each bringing a turn in the tale. And all elicit strong emotions and reactions. The interactions between the players sets up an almost tangible sense of foreboding.

I stopped after part one, which ends on a cataclysmic note, to gather my thoughts. Where could the story go from here? I started part two a few days later and didn't put the book down until I turned the last page. And then I sat and thought again.

Spalding's prose are rich, raw, powerful and oh, so evocative. She explores so much in The Purchase - freedom, faith, family, love, loss and more.

On reading the author's notes, I discovered that The Purchase is based on Spalding's own family history. She visited sites and settings that are used in the book. I think the personal connection added so much to the book.

Brilliant. One of my top reads for 2012. Can lit rocks!

Interesting, Great for Book Clubs!

This was a very different historical novel and for the most part I really enjoyed both reading and learning from. The idea of a Quaker purchasing a slave sets up a moral dilemma that sets things in motion, none of them wonderful. The main protagonist is faced with many difficult choices, is often taken advantage of, and for the most part, he screws up badly. His choices affect his children, new wife, his purchased slave, his new and initially friendly and helpful neighbors, and even his beloved horses.