The Endless Forest
by Sara Donati, Bantam, $27
This very long novel is the last in the Into the Wilderness series, six in all. As I had not read any of the previous five, I was somewhat at a disadvantage. However, constant reference to the initial list of characters gave me
a sketchy background and the story itself held my interest.
It continues the account of the lives of Quaker immigrants who live in an isolated settlement they have named Paradise, a Garden of Eden set in the midst of forests and mountains, on the border between America and Canada.
Once beset by the native Indians and the forces of nature, the settlers have made their peace with the former and learnt to accept and cope with the latter.
It is the turbulence of family life that this story tells. 1824 sees the Bonner children returning home from far-away countries and bringing with them unforeseen troubles and differences. None more so than the much married Jemima, who returns not only with all the trappings of wealth and affluence, but - incredibly - with an innocent, naive young lad whom she claims is her son.
But Jemima's turbulent life and vicious-seeming nature has always spelt danger.
Her daughter, Martha, whom she abandoned as a child, is now married to Daniel and the union is an ecstatic one. Can Jemima imperil this couple?
There is Callie, Martha's half-sister, too. She is trying to restore the flood-stricken orchard which is her only hope of independence, but to which Jemima may make claim.
There are the negro friends, too. Born into slavery, but now freed and on whom much of the success of Paradise depends. They too, have accounts to settle with this lady.
These are only a few of the many endearing characters which made this saga of Quaker life in the late 1800s and the early 1900s, such a compelling one.
Once into the narrative it is a tale that is hard to put down.
