Book Review: Camp Follower

Title	Camp Follower
Author	Suzanne Adair
Rating
Tags	revolutionary war, south, women
	This is the third in Suzanne Adair's series on the Revolutionary War series set in the Southern colonies. Each of the three has had a different heroine but the same villain. In this volume, the protagonist is Helen Chiswell. At seventeen this daughter of poverty and abuse in Wiltshire, England, is sold to a wealthy lout and goes with him to Wilmington, North Carolina. The body of the work takes place in 1780. Helen has been a widow for several years, but her husband's debts have left her desperate for money. She earns some by writing for the society page of a local publication. Helen's publisher offers her a big payment to write a lengthy feature on Banastre Tarleton, one of the more exciting British officers. To get close to him she poses as the sister of Lt. Dunstan Fairfax, whom readers know as the villain of the last two books by Adair. Before she leaves Wilmington, her old butler is murdered, and Helen is suspected. Fairfax saves her to satisfy his own needs. They begin their journey, along with a couple who serves as Helen's servants, and her dearest friend since she came to America, Jonathan Quill, who also acts as her servant in order to protect her. They leave on their lengthy journey and encounter plots, counter-plots, and more plots. Helen is tested to figure out who she can trust, and must learn how to open her heart enough to love. Like the other two books in the series, this book is a rip-snorting good adventure with a strong woman protagonist. In addition, it is valuable picture of what the Revolution was like in the Southern colonies. Recommended, as is the author's blog (http://www.suzanneadair.typepad.com/).
Publication	Whittlers Bench Press (2008), Paperback, 400 pages
Publication date	2008
ISBN	0978526546 / 9780978526542