In 1842, Douglas Elling loses his beloved wife and his young daughter to a house fire due to some rumors that he is an abolitionist. Three years later, in 1845, his friend's daughter, Abigail "Abby" Milton arrives from England to be his ward, intent on finding a new place to thrive and to forget her past. Troubled by grief, Douglas Elling makes little to no effort to attempt to befriend Abby, while Abby focuses more on learning about the Southern culture in Charleston, South Carolina. One day, as Abby overhears something she shouldn't have, her views and opinions on Douglas shift, and she slowly begins to change, but will she change too late?

Set against the backdrop of South Carolina in 1840s, TROUBLE THE WATER by Jacqueline Friedland is a tour-de-force to be reckoned with. Sweet and tender, this is a story with a slow-burning chemistry between the main leads, in addition to plenty of historical facts for readers who are seeking a well- researched historical fiction novel. It's a story not to be rushed through, and but one to savor.

What I really enjoyed about TROUBLE THE WATER is Douglas Elling and his flirtations with Abby, be it over a play he was reading or when he was encouraging her to pursue her interests and goals. Abby was not focused on only one goal but had different ideas for herself than what her parents hoped, and she pursued them with gusto. I liked that the romance was slow and sweet; Douglas was a gentleman and much cared for Abby's emotions. Tidbits about Southern ways of life as well as expected manners are shown throughout the novel, and I imagine that quite a lot of them will be surprising. There is also a focus on the Underground Railroad and what the slaves had to go through in order to escape. I did find myself wishing the mystery of the house fire had more of a focus, and I also would have loved to have seen more of Abby's friends while she was a ward at Douglas' estate. For fans of the antebellum South, slow and sweet romances that will warm the heart, as well as bits and pieces of the history behind the Underground Railroad, TROUBLE THE WATER is a read waiting to be discovered.

Book Summary

Abigail Milton was born into the British middle class, but her family has landed in unthinkable debt. To ease their burdens, Abby’s parents send her to America to live off the charity of their old friend, Douglas Elling. When she arrives in Charleston at the age of seventeen, Abigail discovers that the man her parents raved about is a disagreeable widower who wants little to do with her. To her relief, he relegates her care to a governess, leaving her to settle into his enormous estate with little interference. But just as she begins to grow comfortable in her new life, she overhears her benefactor planning the escape of a local slave—and suddenly, everything she thought she knew about Douglas Elling is turned on its head.

Abby’s attempts to learn more about Douglas and his involvement in abolition initiate a circuitous dance of secrets and trust. As Abby and Douglas each attempt to manage their complicated interior lives, readers can’t help but hope that their meandering will lead them straight to each other. Set against the vivid backdrop of Charleston twenty years before the Civil War, Trouble the Water is a captivating tale replete with authentic details about Charleston’s aristocratic planter class, American slavery, and the Underground Railroad.

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