A Place in His Heart by Rebecca DeMarino

Back Cover: She could cross an ocean, but could she ever win his heart?

Anglican Mary Langton longs to marry for love. Left at the alter and disgraced in her small hamlet, she is being pressured to marry the eligible son of the London milliner. Puritan Barnabas Horton still grieves the loss of his beloved wife, but he knows his two young sons need a mother.

With tender hearts, Mary and Barnabas take a leap of faith and wed. But when Barnabas’s secret plans to move his family to the New World to escape persecution come to light, Mary’s world is upended. How could she possible leave her papa and her dear sister?

And will she ever reach the secret places of her husband’s broken heart?

Review: “A Place in His Heart” is a novel set in the year 1630, in England. Mary Langton is the youngest daughter to a wealthy land owner in a small hamlet. She once thought herself in love, but that relationship ended horrible with her being jilted at the alter. Mary’s father is set on marrying off his shamed daughter, but Mary is frantic to not marry the man her father has chosen – her would-be-suitor is dimwitted and creepy. So, when she realizes that the town baker, Barnabas, is now single she forges forward to spark a relationship with him. Mary ends up falling helplessly in love with Barnabas… For his part, Barnabas is kind to Mary but his heart still belongs to his deceased wife.

My favourite character in this book was definitely Mary. She is so kind, sweet, and good. She does her best to be selfless and put the needs of her adopted sons and her husband before her own. That being said, I found Mary almost too self-sacrificing. Barnabas does not deserve the level of love and devotion she gives him. Barnabas is constantly putting his dead wife’s needs before Mary’s, and at times, I found him downright mean. It boggled my mind the stuff Mary was able to put up with. I would have told Barnabas to take his wife’s ashes with him to the New World and enjoy his life, “GOOD BYE!” That being said, Mary apparently loves him with a very blind love, and is willing to leave all the people who truly love her in the world to be on the other side of the planet with a bitter husband. The good in this is that Mary truly lives out her vows and stays with Barnabas no matter what. The biggest lesson I took from this book is, “Be careful who you marry.”

The story ends well and I found the book’s dialogue very accurate to the times. The dialogue was formal and cultured, much how I imagined it would be. Despite my frustration with Mary’s tolerance, it was a well done book with a good premise behind it.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Revell and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from BakerBooks, a division of Baker Publishing Group"