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A Book in Her Hands is historical fiction based around the early career of painter, Winslow Homer. The lead character, Sara Haines, lived in New England in the 1860s. She knew Winslow Homer whose family home was nearby. While in church Sara's minister father discovered a library book in her hands, grabbed it away, and declared that reading romance was a straight road to hell. But Sara's rebellion went deeper. She desired the freedom to pursue a life of her own, unlike the servitude her mother chose. Sara wanted to paint.
Soon, she met a woman who taught art to ladies in her studio. When Sara's father learned she was drawing images of dancers, he tore the pages out of her notebook. Friends helped her escape to Miss Porter's School in Connecticut. There Sara was free to paint, visit the library, and study Civil War wood engravings done by Winslow Homer in Harper's Weekly. Meanwhile, Sara's father joined the war on the side of the Confederates and likely died at Gettysburg. Could she now reconcile with her mother?
Sara's new friend, Helena, was Winslow's romantic interest and posed for several paintings. Could Sara, too, model for one of his paintings? Munday has masterfully kept up a play on the word "novel" throughout this short book. First in Sara's hand, the novel is torn away by her father, but ends up being held close like a lover when she models for Winslow's "The New Novel" and finally appears in her wedding gown self-portrait with a book in her hand. Readers should search the Internet for images of Winslow Homer's paintings. Doing so will definitely enhance the experience, since Munday, a Homer devotee, mentions twenty-five Homer paintings in his novel. Markets for this book should include the young adult audience.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review