Kari@ From the TBR Pile

I had to take a bit to think about this book and decide if I liked it. The Girl Who Married an Eagle is apparently the fourth book in a series about the Belgian Congo in the 1950s. I haven't read the first three books, but I didn't really feel like I was missing anything. The book is beautifully written. I enjoyed the descriptions of the landscape and life in that time as a missionary. The author did a wonderful and realistic job of portraying the brutality and harshness of tribal life. No doubt this comes from her experience as a missionary child during that time period. My favorite character was Clementine. She is only 9, but she is very mature and wise. I loved what she did for Julia and the school in the end.

Overall, I liked the book. It is a quick and pretty easy read. I wouldn't classify this as a mystery. There really wasn't one. I think the problem I had with the book was there was almost no interaction between Julia and Buakane. The book really seemed to focus more on Nurse Verna than on anyone else. In the afterword, it is mentioned that the way Buakane made it to nursing school would take a whole book. That is the book I thought I was getting. The conflict with Chief Eagle was over so quickly, I never really felt the threat. I think fans of the series will enjoy this finale.