This review was written by Alice Herold
Star Crossed, by Linda Collison, is an adventure book for young adults. The author has spent a great deal of time sailing and her expertise shows in her writing. ( She has included a glossary explaining sailing and medical terms at the end of the book.)
The year is 1760. Three months earlier, Patricia Kelley's father died leaving her with no means of support at age 16. She knew one day she would inherit the Hatterby Estate which was a West Indian sugar plantation in Barbados. But all sorts of questions arise as she travels across the seas to claim the property.
1. Is the main character Patricia Kelley or Patricia Hatterby?
2. Is she a stowaway or a guest on the ship "Canopus"?
3. Is she a sailor or a medical assistant?
4. Is she a wife to Dr. MacPherson or a girlfriend to Brian Dalton?
5. Is she really Patricia Kelly or Patrick MacPherson?
6. How did her father die?
The author wrote a work of fiction, but based much of the story on facts. For example, she states in author's note, "Eighteenth-century merchantmen and British naval ships did indeed carry women-wives, girlfriends, passengers, prostitutes, laundresses--even though the admiralty had rules prohibiting it."
Patricia concludes she can never be an ordinary woman, but it occurrred to her that there were no ordinary women--just extraordinary ones. She might be referring to the author--Linda Collison! She's been a nurse, a skydiving instructor, scuba diver, volunteer firefighter, sailor and now a novelist. Read this book to be entertained and educated at the same time.
