Title: Jayne’s Endeavour
Author: Lauren Compton
Series: The Joy Series, book 1
Major Themes: Historical Fiction, Australia, Families
Synopsis: With her parent’s recent death, the responsibility of the family rests on Jayne—and someone is trying to push them off their farm. Can she trust the Lord to provide what they need?
I was quite excited one day when I got an email from the author of Jayne’s Endeavour, asking if I wanted to help launch it into the world! What a special treat—it’s not every day that you get to give a hand to a debut author! I was more excited when I read the description of the book—Christian? Historical Fiction? Australia? Yes, please!
Jayne is in a difficult spot. With her parent’s recent deaths weighing on her, she and her sisters must somehow work together to save their family farm. They have one hired hand, but that hardly feels like enough—where can they find another, to fulfill their land contract? If they don’t, they’ll lose the farm. But then, it looks like that might happen anyway. Someone is trying to push them off their land, and also trying to take land from their friends. What is going on in their little community? Will the Lord protect them?
Jayne’s Endeavour is a very sweet story in a lot of ways. I loved watching the siblings love and care for each other, and also try to support each other when the going was tough. That’s so beautiful to me, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of that in future books!
I also enjoyed the setting; it felt pretty realistic, even though I felt like it could have been fleshed out a bit more (but I expect that will likely come in time, as the author gets more experience writing).
In all, Jayne’s Endeavour is a good book, and I’d recommend it if you’re looking for something that’s clean, has a bit of history, and is also an interesting story. It isn’t a book I’d rave over, but I enjoyed it. Perhaps your family would, too. It’s partly worth reading, just because there are so few Christian Historical Fiction books set in Australia! I enjoyed that aspect a lot.
I requested a free review copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.
WARNING: A man is smoking in ch. 4, and people talk about someone buying liquor. A sheep is struggling to lamb in ch. 9, and there is some description as they help it give birth. They receive word of someone who died in ch. 11. A boy fights a girl in ch. 12. A woman is threatened in ch. 17. Someone is hurt in ch. 18. Someone is shot at in ch. 19, and a bone is set in ch. 21.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 8 – 12, Family Friendly
Reading Independently—Ages 10 – 12, 12 – 15, 15 and Above
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
Book Depository: Paperback
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