After being imprisoned and branded for the death of her client, twenty-five-year-old midwife Julianne Chevalier trades her life sentence for exile to the fledgling 1720s French colony of Louisiana, where she hopes to be reunited with her brother, serving there as a soldier. To make the journey, though, women must be married, and Julianne is forced to wed a fellow convict.
When they arrive in New Orleans, there is no news of Benjamin, Julianne’s brother, and searching for answers proves dangerous. What is behind the mystery, and does military officer Marc-Paul Girard know more than he is letting on?
With her dreams of a new life shattered, Julianne must find her way in this dangerous, rugged land, despite never being able to escape the king’s mark on her shoulder that brands her a criminal beyond redemption.
Jocelyn Green is a former journalist who puts her investigative skills to work in writing both nonfiction and historical fiction to inspire faith and courage.
The honors her books have received include the Christy Award in historical fiction, and gold medals from the Military Writers Society of America and the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association.
Complex and nuanced characters, rich historical detail and twisting plots make her novels immersive experiences. Her fiction has been praised by Historical Novel Society, Romantic Times, Library Journal, historians specializing in her novels’ time periods, as well as popular and acclaimed authors Laura Frantz, Lori Benton, Jody Hedlund, Sarah Sundin, Joanne Bischof, Julie Lessman, and more.
Jocelyn loves Broadway musicals, the color red, strawberry-rhubarb pie, Mexican food, and well-done documentaries. She lives in Iowa with her husband, two children, and two cats she should have named Catticus Finch and Purrman Meowville.
Visit her at jocelyngreen.com.
My Impressions:
Jocelyn Green has become a must-read author for me. Her historical novels are marvels of meticulous research — the reader truly feels like she has stepped back in time. I have been trying to catch up on my Green reading, and chose an audiobook for The Mark of The King. This novel took me to a familiar place — New Orleans — but an unfamiliar time in the city’s history. The beginning of the French colony is explored in this novel, especially the time period in which the French government sought to populate the area by arranging marriages and shipping the new couples to settle and multiply. I found the history fascinating, and Green does a wonderful job of supplying details to make the era and the people come to life. The story line and main characters are fictional, but the author includes historical figures to add to the novel’s authenticity. I loved main character Julianne. Her indomitable spirit and hopes for a future are heroic. She faces obstacles and hardships that ring true. Other characters, including leading man Marc-Paul, are also well-developed and so very real. You will find many to love, and many to despise. The subtle spiritual truth of being more than what the world brands us runs throughout the novel and applies to many of the characters. It is also a message very relevant to today. As stated, I listened to the audiobook. The narration was excellent — character voices were especially good.
I loved The Mark of The King. If you haven’t yet read this novel, I highly recommend it.
Highly Recommended.
Audience: Adults.
(I purchased the audiobook from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great story and a great author.