What do readers think of Fireflies in Winter by Eleanor Shearer? Write your own review.

Thank you to NetGalley/ Berkeley Publishing for/ BookBrowse for the privilege of reading and Advance Reader Copy of Fireflies in Winter in exchange for an honest review.

Protagonist Cora along with Silas, Leah and young Benjamin were transported by the British from Jamaica to Nova Scotia following the 2nd Maroon war. Maroons were escaped African slaves who fled to the interior mountains of Jamaica, fought colonization, and developed their own culture. The Maroons lived in Nova Scotia between 1796 and 1800 before sailing to Sierra Leone.

Cora is an orphan living with her friend Leah and widower Silas, who has an eye on Cora. The book actually begins with a woman on trial in a Halifax courtroom. The narrative moves back and forth from the courtroom to the Maroons living in the village of Preston.

I liked the writing style of Eleanor Shearer. Additionally, I'd been unfamiliar with the deportations of Maroons from Jamaica to Nova Scotia, which intrigued me and caused me to dig deeper into the history. I can't imagine a greater cultural shift than being transported from the Caribbean Beaty of Jamaica to the wintry starkness of Nova Scotia.
Ultimately, I thought Cora was the least interesting character in the book. I could not empathize with Cora. Agnes remained an enigma. Other characters including Thursday, Leah, and Benjamin found my heart.

I had been impressed by River Song Me Home, so was delighted to be given an advance copy of Shearer’s sophomore effort, Fireflies in Winter. But this book didn’t pull me in the way her debut did. The story takes place in late 18th century Halifax. A young woman, an orphaned Maroon, has recently arrived from Jamaica. I was unaware of the concept of Maroons and found it odd that Shearer only slowly explains the concept (and then just in spatters) and what brought them to Nova Scotia. I had to check Wikipedia to really get a grasp. Did she assume everyone knew the history? The book would be improved by a brief synopsis of their history before the book begins.

During the harsh winter, she meets another young black woman who is hiding out in the woods. She has never felt she belonged within her community and finds herself drawn to this stranger in the woods. This is a slow moving story, going back and forth in its limited timeline. It doesn’t come together until it’s almost ? over. It’s a dark story, focusing on the slippery slope of freedom for anyone not white.

The writing is beautiful. Shearer does a great job providing a sense of time and place. I had a real feel for the absolute cold of the winter.

My thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for an advance copy of this book.

I had been impressed by River Song Me Home, so was delighted to be given an advance copy of Shearer’s sophomore effort, Fireflies in Winter. But this book didn’t pull me in the way her debut did. The story takes place in late 18th century Halifax. A young woman, an orphaned Maroon, has recently arrived from Jamaica. I was unaware of the concept of Maroons and found it odd that Shearer only slowly explains the concept (and then just in spatters) and what brought them to Nova Scotia. I had to check Wikipedia to really get a grasp. Did she assume everyone knew the history? The book would be improved by a brief synopsis of their history before the book begins.

During the harsh winter, she meets another young black woman who is hiding out in the woods. She has never felt she belonged within her community and finds herself drawn to this stranger in the woods. This is a slow moving story, going back and forth in its limited timeline. It doesn’t come together until it’s almost ? over. It’s a dark story, focusing on the slippery slope of freedom for anyone not white. The writing is beautiful. Shearer does a great job providing a sense of time and place. I had a real feel for the absolute cold of the winter.

My thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for an advance copy of this book.

I kept nodding off through the first half of this book and almost gave up trying to read it. To describe it as slow moving, is an under statement. Every noun has an adjective and every verb an adverb. It's exhausting and much too wordy. I felt like I had started watching a movie from the middle. It very much needed a backstory to explain a period in history that I'm sure very few people, including myself, are familiar with. Once the semblance of a plot emerged, it became a somewhat more interesting read, but I never connected with it and basically feel that it was a wasted read.