Set in the 1860's, The Seeker tells a story of disappointment, love and war. Charlotte Vance is engaged to Edwin who has decided to join the shakers. The problem being that the Shakers don't believe in marriage. Her father has also returned home with a young bride who does not hesitate to make changes to her home at Grayson. However when she hears of her stepmother?s plans to sell her slave, who was more a sister to her than a slave, she sets a plan in action - to free her slave Mellie and to win back Edwin from the Shakers. On joining the shakers however she learns a lot more than she bargained for and while she had hoped to win Edwin's heart someone was hoping to win her heart too. This is the first book I have read from Ann H Gabhart and can say that I was not disappointed. Not knowing much about the civil war, the book was an interesting read which captured what the war was about without it being tedious. It portrayed the characters well and kept me turning pages

Set in the 1860's, The Seeker tells a story of disappointment, love and war. Charlotte Vance is engaged to Edwin who has decided to join the Shakers. The problem being that the Shakers don't believe in marriage. Her father has also returned home with a young bride who does not hesitate to make changes to her home at Grayson. However when she hears of her stepmother’s plans to sell her slave, who was more a sister to her than a slave, she sets a plan in action - to free her slave Mellie and to win back Edwin from the Shakers. On joining the Shakers however she learns a lot more than she bargained for and while she had hoped to win Edwin's heart someone was hoping to win her heart too. This is the first book I have read from Ann H Gabhart and can say that I was not disappointed. Not knowing much about the civil war, the book was an interesting read which captured what the war was about without it being tedious. It portrayed the characters well and kept me turning pages.

When Charlotte?s father suddenly marries Selena, everything changes. Charlotte, accompanied by Mellie, a slave, decamp from their luxurious Kentucky plantation and head for a nearby Shaker community, where Charlotte hopes to persuade new-convert Edwin to reconsider and marry her, uniting their properties. Correspondence with illustrator Adam Wade of Harper?s Weekly, currently assigned to cover developments in the War Between the States, becomes her only link to her past and the outside world, but Adam faces his own trials. Gabhart?s absorbing coming-of-age Christian historical novel deftly juxtaposes Adam?s and Charlotte?s internal faith journeys against a backdrop of unusual settings. Charlotte is an overly responsible woman of action, who now must learn unquestioning obedience and rigid discipline, while Adam struggles to reconcile his natural inclination to remain a detached observer with his need to alleviate some of the suffering he encounters on the various battlefields. Also recommended for Civil War buffs and Shaker aficionados. Lynne Welch