Beyond Molasses Creek - Nicole Seitz

Three lives are bound by a single book . . . and the cleansing waters of Molasses Creek.

Having traveled to the ends of the earth as a flight attendant, Ally Green has finally returned to the Lowcountry to bury her father as well as the past. But Vesey Washington is still living across the creek, and theirs is a complicated relationship--he was once her best friend . . . and also part of the reason she's stayed away so long. When Ally discovers a message her father left behind asking her to quit running, it seems her past isn't through with her yet.

As Ally's wandering spirit wrestles with a deep longing to flee again, a young woman on the other side of the world escapes her life of slavery in the rock quarries of Nepal. A mysterious sketchbook leads Sunila Kunari to believe there's more to her story than she's ever been told, and she's determined to follow the truth wherever it leads her.

 A deep current intertwines the lives of these three souls, and a destiny of freedom, faith, and friendship awaits them all on the banks of Molasses Creek.  

MY REVIEW

Beyond Molasses Creek is a fascinating novel told in the first person point of view by each of the three main characters: Ally, Vesey and Sunila. The reader is kept abreast of the switches in story line from one character to the other by a simple headliner giving the name (and if appropriate, the place). Date changes are handled at the beginning of the chapter as part of the narrative.

I thought Nicole did a very good job of handling the difficult first person point of view, and drawing in the reader. Although the story had a very slow start for me (I tend to read faster paced novels as a rule) my perseveriance definetly paid off, and I am very glad I followed it through. The story starts off in Mt. Pleasant by the banks of the Molasses Creek, as the title suggests with Alley and Vesey. But through the author's words we are transported to the quarries of Nepal, as well. From the soothing sound of the river to the squalor and dust of a debt-slave pounding rocks to make gravel, or if they are lucky, to be carving stones into statutes.

Whatever background in needed, is artfully included in the memories, mostly of Ally.

I loved this story by Nicole, and will be looking for more of her novels. I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers through their Booksneeze program in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive critique. The opinions stated are my own.