Boston Jane ~ 4.5 stars

     Boston Jane: An Adventure, by Jennifer L. Holm, is a historical fiction story which revolves around the realities of frontier life in 1854 and the inexperience of a young woman fresh from the civilized city of Philadelphia.

     Jane Peck is not what anyone would call a 'proper lady.' As a girl she was a complete tomboy and too fond of eating cherry pies. As a young woman of sixteen, though she has learned everything that Miss Hepplewhite's Young Ladies Academy can teach, she still seems incapable of becoming one of those women who hold an esteemed place in Society. But what she doesn't at first see is that the very things that prevent her from becoming a 'proper lady' are the things that enable her to survive and endure the challenges that the Northwest Territory hold for her. Without her strong, irrepressible nature and the stubborn will to succeed that she got from her father, she'd never have decided to travel to the untamed frontier of Shoalwater Bay to marry a man she has admired since childhood.

     These happy plans doesn't go as expected. When she reaches Shoalwater Bay where her fiance was supposed to be waiting for her, he has gone far away to work for the Governor of the territory, and has already married to a Chinook Indian woman. Friendless, without family or money, and with no way to get back home, Jane must find a way to survive in the primitive settlement. Everything she learned at Miss Hepplewhite's proves utterly useless as she rubs shoulders with the smoking, drinking, tobacco-spitting frontiersmen of the settlement and the Chinook Indians living nearby. But as she mends clothing, bakes pies,and begins make a place for herself at Shoalwater Bay, Jane discovers that what it takes to be a lady is not fine embroidery and fine clothing, but a stout heart and a refusal to give up.

     Boston Jane is a book that I enjoyed very, very much when I first read it about two or three years ago. Jane was a girl who I liked from the first page. She had an ironic view of life, and bold, forthright attitude. She was funny, she was brave, she didn't hesitate to screech at the frontier men when they starting getting on her nerves. And although she ended up in some of the most ridiculous situations, she somehow manages to make the best of everything that happens, including a smallpox epidemic that kills many of the native Indians. Jane isn't a dainty lady, she's far from perfect, and she's not always grateful for what she does have. It was those things that made me like her so much. She was just like me, except she could bake pies much better than I can.

     I liked many of the other characters in Boston Jane: An Adventure, and they all added to the distinct flavor of the book. Mr. Russell, the dirtiest, most flea-bitten man on the settlement, seems to have a low opinion of Jane, but beneath his gruff and grubby exterior is a heart of gold. Other new friends are Mr. Swan, an eccentric gentleman, and Handsome Jim, a Chinook Indian. Besides these, she also forms an unlikely friendship with a sailor called Jehu Schudder which may eventually bloom into something more. All these characters and more are found in Boston Jane, a collection of people with varied personalities that together this an entertaining, memorable read.

     And did I mention that this is actually a trilogy? So after Boston Jane: An Adventure,  there are two more books of Jane, Jehu, Mr. Swan, and Mr. Russell, along with new characters and new adventures/dilemmas for Jane to face. What's not to like? Be sure to check these both out of you like the first book.

Boston Jane: Wilderness Days

Boston Jane: The Claim

     By the way, my pet peeve about these books? They changed the cover art. My copies have interesting covers of Jane doing something she does in the book, and they're very inviting covers. Here you just get a girl in a dress standing. Pretty, but not very interesting, at least in my opinion. But that's just my pet peeve. The books are still good, regardless of what covers they have, and I highly suggest you read them. 

Link to author website: http://www.jenniferholm.com/p/novels.html