April 29, 2019
A woman in Reconstruction-era Mississippi launches a secret campaign to establish a school for black children in the gratifying finale to White’s Daughtry House series (after A Rebel Heart). Joelle Daughtry teaches freed slaves to read and write, but some in her small town—and in her church—want to restrict their education. Joelle’s childhood friend, Shuyler Beaumont, isn’t thrilled with Joelle’s budding relationship with a local preacher, but the murder of Shuyler’s father, a progressive political candidate, has forced him to search for answers the police seem unwilling to find. Secretive gatherings, church burnings, and violent reprisals against Joelle’s liberal practices prompt Shuyler to return from the capital to protect her and her students. In the chaos, they turn to each other and to their deepening faith, believing justice would stand firm against the hatred and bigotry overwhelming their community. Featuring flawed characters desperate to fight for equality, this intense historical romance will make readers wrestle—as Joelle does—with questions of what the Christian faith says about freedom, truth, and justice.
Starred review from June 1, 2019
Joelle Daughtry and Schuyler Beaumont could not be more wrong for one another. She is a modern woman in a Southern world of gentility; he is a free-spirited son of a politician needling for an argument. But while Joelle's childhood nemesis knows exactly how to rile her, Schuyler's soft spot for his secret childhood love betrays his shared convictions in the equal-rights causes that are getting Joelle into trouble. When a high-profile murder leads Schuyler into danger in their racially and politically divided Mississippi hometown, it's not long before their old rivalry smolders into new romance. White continues her Daughtry House series, following A Rebel Heart (2018), with a story about breaking convention and falling in love with the person who helps one's truest character shine. A Reluctant Belle captures the ugliness of hate's inner circles in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1870, the struggle toward an informed electorate, and the coquettish charm of a lifelong friendship that transforms into a heart connection. True to the stalwart Daughtry sisters' tradition she's created, White brings exceptional depth to yet another strong female protagonist and integrates faith into the novel through biblical scripture, Christian living practices, and themes of forgiveness and social justice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)