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by Louella Bryant (Author)
Beside the Long River plunges readers into the untamed forests of early America, where every shadow conceals danger and every clearing holds the promise of conflict. Muskets crack, arrows whistle, and war drums echo through the wilderness as cultures collide in a brutal fight for survival.
In the early seventeenth century, Puritan teenager Sarah Lyman leaves the rigid rules of England behind, only to discover that life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony is even more oppressive. When her family follows the preacher Thomas Hooker to found a new settlement along the Connecticut River, Sarah dares to hope for freedom-to dress as she wishes, to speak her mind, and to chart her own future.
But on the edge of this new colony, tensions boil over. The Pequot tribe, guardians of their ancestral land, are seen as obstacles to English expansion. Sarah's heart is torn when she befriends a Pequot girl and falls in love with her courageous brother, Ayaks, even as her community calls for the destruction of his people.
When the English militia marches toward Mystic, intent on erasing the Pequot once and for all, Sarah disguises herself as a boy and joins their ranks-determined to save the man she loves and stop the slaughter.
Based on true events and real historical figures, Beside the Long River vividly brings to life the bloody Pequot War of 1636, a clash that shaped the future of New England and tested the limits of courage, loyalty, and love.
