This book will keep the reader on the edge of their seat. It has a lot of hitorical facts in it and the facts make it an amazing book! Definitely recommend! :) ( )

Reviewed by Mechele R. Dillard for TeensReadToo.com

The streets of 17th-Century London come alive in author Ann Turnbull's FORGED IN THE FIRE. The sequel to Turnbull's 2006 NO SHAME, NO FEAR, this well-written novel stands alone, dually answering readers' current questions while offering just enough ambiguity to pique their interest in the prequel.

Romance is alive and well in the plague-infested streets of 1665 London. But, times are hard and death is rampant, especially for Quakers such as Will and Susanna, who find themselves fighting against a close-minded religious establishment in addition to disease and poverty. Readers are left to breathlessly concede that a happy ending, no matter how deserved, is far from guaranteed.

Turnbull is skilled at entertaining readers while covertly educating them. Her scenes are full and powerful, bringing excitement and history to the forefront, yet never overpowering or heavy-handed. Readers will fall wholeheartedly into the love story of Will and Susanna, while simultaneously aching for the thousands of actual lives truly lost to sickness, disaster and ignorance in the London of yesteryear.

This, readers will understand, was a time of great fear, but not a time beyond equally great faith: "We ate with relish and felt glad to be alive," recalls Will. "The plague was in the city--but danger was always present. We must go about our lives as usual and trust in God" (p. 25). ( )

Susanna and Will (from No Shame, No Fear) may finally have a chance to get married. Will has job prospects and is looking for lodgings in London. But when the plague traps him in the city, their plans are thrown into question. And as their love story grows more complicated, it gets closer and closer to the summer of 1666 - and the Great Fire of London.

There were a lot of great things about this book. The characterization - particularly of Susannah - is three-dimensional and not in the least bit stereotypical. She is strong in her faith, but preoccupied with sex (in a very realistic teenager way). She is headstrong, independent, but devoted to Will. I love that she decides to get work, that she has moments of doubt about her choice to come to London. She's just a really well-rounded character. Will is less distinct in my eyes, but he still has his complexities. He's faithful with the zeal of the converted, but he misses his old life of music, beauty, and wealth.

The details of daily life - the sights and smells were well-described, but at the same time I didn't get the same sense of time and place that comes in the best historical fiction. Although the Great Fire happened in the background, it didn't seem to be as important or devastating as I felt it must have been to those who lived through it.

Plus the love story seemed a little off to me. After all, they only met once for an hour before determining they were madly in love. The rest of their relationship was built up through letters - but that was in a previous novel, so I had none of that sharing of hearts and souls. So the fact that they were so dedicated to one another seemed very weird to me. I mean, I know plenty about long-distance relationships, both how difficult they are and how intimate letters can be, but only one meeting just didn't seem like it would be enough to decide to wed. And under the circumstances, I wanted their relationship to hit more bumps. Once they were actually together and living together, their relationship was portrayed as completely blissful - when really that kind of move should have pulled some of the romantic glaze from their situation. It's hard suddenly being tied so exclusively to someone and being with them all the time. That should have showed.

I didn't much care for the portions where the narrative dwelled on the persecution of the Quakers - not because I don't think it's an important story to address, but at times it seemed remarkably self-righteous to preach of tolerance while refusing to even refer to St. Paul's as a church ('steeple-house', really?). I had issues with the language; the 'thees' and 'thous' just didn't seem quite right to me. The verbs weren't changed in the way I expected (thou WILT, people), and that's just one of my pet peeves.

So - I think this is a very nice story for young adults, but it just didn't gel with my worldview.

Also posted at my blog ( )

Submitted by Victoria...
I liked it because it showed that real love waits.
summary: Will becomes a Quaker and is cast out. He goes to London to earn a living while Susanna waits for him back home. But a couple of events keep them apart.