Chains Review

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Isabel stands at her mother's grave and begs for some helpful response, but like many of her other wishes in life, her pleas go unanswered. Instead, she and her sister Ruth are forced to embrace a life of uncertainty, a life far too common for colonists in 1776 as the American Revolution erupts. Change and upheaval are daily occurrences that constantly tear at the faith and freedoms of all citizens, but none more so than Isabel, a young slave. While an adolescent's struggle to break free from constraints and build her own identity is an integral part of growing up, Isabel's own struggle has an added dimension. Her future, due to her race, status, and sex, is already carved out for her. She will work, eat, sleep, live, and die by order of her Master. Yet Isabel refuses to blindly accept this fate. She knows she deserves better and envisions Tag Heuer Replica Watches an escape to freedom, but getting there will test Isabel's courage and resolve more than she ever imagined.

Laurie Halse Anderson's second historical novel blends fictional ...
... elements with real historical events seamlessly, making Isabel's turbulent story as believable as any first-hand account. The novel opens with the burial of Miss Mary Finch, Isabel and Ruth's owner. Having lost their mother the year before, Isabel and Ruth are now completely alone in the world. Isabel is frightened at the prospect of beginning a new life as the sole provider for herself and her sister, as Miss Mary Finch freed the two in her will, but, ironically, she needn't be. Mr. Robert Finch, Miss Mary's nephew and only living relative, refuses to acknowledge that there ever was a will, and without proof, Isabel and Ruth are soon whisked away to be sold at auction. Knowing it is pointless to run, they travel with Mr. Robert to a tavern in Newport where they are quickly sold to Master and Madam Lockton, a cruel couple who still support King George's efforts to continue British rule of the colonies. Immediately, the girls are rushed onto a boat bound for New York, sailing farther and farther away from their chance at freedom—so far away that Isabel fears they will never be found, even by their mother's ghost.

Anderson quickly establishes for the reader that Isabel is much more than the world perceives her to be. While white colonists view her solely as a piece of property, incapable of complex thought or understanding, Isabel is incredibly smart and resourceful. In fact, she uses these low expectations Breitling Replica Watches to her advantage. Recruited early upon her arrival to New York by another slave named Curzon, Isabel, despite great fear, becomes a spy for the Patriot army against her new Tory