The Burning Land [Paperback]

The focus of this novel is on the Second Boer War, and I'll give you a very brief rundown as I understand it. The Boers (Dutch) originally settled in South Africa to farm and practice their religion in peace. Upon the discovery of gold and diamonds, the British began arriving in greater numbers to the point of becoming the majority of the population - but without a say in the government, and you know they're not going to tolerate that! Of course there's more to it than that, but that's what Wik is for. Now on to the book review...

"All my life I have been dealt the lash of guilt. Do you want to punish me more... is that it?"

Alex Russell is a young man with a chain around his neck, the tragic death of his brother when they were children - everyone believe Miles drowned trying to spare Alex's life, and his father never lets him forget it. Not able to live up to the perfection that was Miles, Alex can do no right and finally flunks out of college and after a few drunken escapades his father has had enough. He finds himself entering the military and proposing marriage to the woman his father has chosen for him, whether he likes it or not - and he most definitely doesn't like it. Judith most definitely wants to marry Alex, but he misunderstands her quick acceptance of an arranged proposal and assumes she's in it for the money.

When Alex's unit is sent to South Africa to help in the escalating situation with the Boers, Judith jumps at the chance to follow when her aunt arranges a trip to investigate her financial interests in the mines. Once there, things don't go quite according to Hoyle, as Alex has met Hetta, a young Boer girl, and he is head over heels in love. Is their love strong enough to survive the enmity between their two countries?

Let's just say the old adage war is hell most definitely applies to this story - there are plenty of ups and downs, surprise twists as well as a tear shed here and there. I really liked watching Alex mature from a tortured young man with all that emotional baggage, to the soldier who could face anything, including the horrors of Spion Kop. You can go to the Wik article if you want to see pictures, but I warn you they are very disturbing. Guerilla warfare is not pretty.

"...but all around him the trench was being filled with dead men, emptied by living ones who were soon dead themselves. There was no order to retreat, so once a soldier reached the trench he was there until an office-or an angel-released him."

I know by now I probably sound like a broken record, but Drummond really crafts a great tale and keeps you on pins and needles until the very end. Her knowledge of all things British Military as well as highly structured society is spot on as always, as is her dialogue. This was one period I'd always heard about, but never quite understood and this book is definitely a good place to start and *get your feet wet*.

Emma Drummond's specialty is writing historical romances that feature conflicted characters set against a backdrop of war. In The Burning Land the setting is the Second Boer War in South Africa and the story centers on Alex Russell and the two women who love him.

Alex is the most conflicted character of them all. His cruel and insufferable father indirectly blames him for his mother's death (she died shortly after giving birth to him). This is compounded when Alex's older brother dies in a drowning accident and Alex's father doesn't hesitate to let him and everyone else know that it is a pity Alex wasn't the one who died, instead. In shock from the incident, the eight-year-old Alex accepts his father's interpretation of events and thus begins on a downward spiral of failing to live up to his father's expectations. At age 24, when he has been kicked out of Cambridge and has unwittingly got himself framed for blackmail by a married woman, his father decides the solution is to get him married to a decent woman and enlist him in the military. Alex's father chooses his distant cousin, Judith, to be his wife and she quickly accepts Alex's father's proposal. Before the marriage can take place, however, Alex is sent to South Africa to take part in the Boer conflict.

Judith herself is a conflicted character, and one who completely engaged my sympathy. Beautiful and aristocratic, she has a reputation for being in ice queen, and her training (that real ladies don't show their true emotions) as well as her natural pride emphasize it. This proves to be disastrous to her relationship with Alex. Although she accepts the proposal of marriage to him because she desperately wants a change from her life in a house full of women, one glimpse at Alex (whom she hasn't seen for many years) and she falls head over heels in love. Alex, however, believes that she accepted marriage to him only for the wealth it would bring to her, and thus despises her and the impending marriage. Even when Judith follows him to South Africa, Alex doesn't recognize it is out of her love for him and, unfortunately, she covers up her true feelings so well that it would seem he is right.

And then there is Hetta, the Dutch Boer girl who captures Alex's heart. Young and beautiful, plainly dressed and raised to a simple life of hard work, she reminds Alex of his first true love that he lost many years ago. For the Boer people, however, the English are the enemy, and especially in Hetta's household; her grandfather hates the English whom he blames for the death of Hetta's parents, and Hetta's betrothed Piet is fanatical in his desire to kill the English. This places Hetta in some precarious situations where she is torn between loyalty to her family and her people, and her intense love for the Englishman Alex.

Meanwhile, the Second Boer War is heating up, and it will throw these three people into a cauldron of events from which none of them will emerge unscathed. In true Drummond style, although there is a degree of happily ever after it is bought at a terrible price. As in her other books, this one is full of heartbreak and misunderstanding, but growth and redemption, too. And the ending is far from predictable; it was not until the very last page that you truly know how it all turns out for these three people.

Drummond's writing is excellent; her command of the historical setting gives an authentic feel to the actions and dialogue of her characters. It is easy to believe that something like this could have actually happened to real people. I read the book in record time, as I could hardly put it down.