Beyond The Valley by Rita Gerlach

Beyond The Valley by Rita Gerlach

From Amazon.com
 When Sarah's husband Jamie drowns, her young life if shattered and takes a turn that she never expected. Pregnant and now

widowed, she reaches out to Jamie's family for help but they are unwilling. Instead they devise a plan to have her kidnapped. She is deceived and taken aboard a ship headed for the Chesapeake to be sold as an indentured servant, bound to unspeakable hardship and forced into the same harsh world she left.

Caught in the talons of servitude, she falls in love with a young conscientious doctor, Alex Hutton, who has arrived in Virginia to care for his widowed sister in law and two young nieces. Called back to serve in Washington's army, he promises he will return for her, gain her freedom and wed her. Other plans were made for Sarah when her owner finds himself bankrupt and sells her the first chance he gets. She's taken out into the frontier, captured by Indians, and faces unbearable hardship.

When the mistress of River Run along the Potomac encounters Sarah's plight after she has escaped, Eliza Morgan pities her, and a way is made for Sarah to remain with her and care for Eliza's young daughter, Darcy. Revolution has ignited in America, and together they endure many hardships which bring them together in friendship. But when Sarah learns that Zachary Halston, a local landowner, has seduced Eliza, she is troubled about what to do.

Grateful for Eliza's kindness, Sarah is forever bound to keep silent. She promises Eliza to never reveal the secret that Ilene is Eliza's child, even at the risk of living a life in shame if her master should ever discover the truth upon his return.

Trapped in Eliza and Hayward's troubled lives, Sarah flees River Run. Will she make her way back to Alex and freedom as he searches the wilderness for her? Or will her hopes be crushed at the hands of the man who deceived her long ago in Cornwall when she faced destitution?

My Take: Sarah has always felt that she was less than everyone else.  She was born with one leg shorter than the other so she had a limp.  She met Jamie and he wanted to marry her so she impulsively married at the age of 17.  Six months later she finds herself a widow and she goes to Jamie's family for help.  They are very selfish people and come up with a plan to send Sarah to America.  The rest of the story is very realistic and shows things as they were in that time of history.  Sarah's life is full of ups and downs but through it all you can see God's hand in it all. 
Although this is the third in a trilogy you do not have to read the first two to be able to read this book.  You will want to read the first two though as they are wonderful books in their own right. 
These books will appeal to people who enjoy historical romance with Christian overtones.  Or if you just like a well written book. 

I received a review copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book.  I was not required to write a favorable review.