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Book Review By Steve Martini
Far From Gilded Halls by Stephen Paul

This is the story of Jon Chapman, more commonly known as Johnny Appleseed. At the age of two, Jon's mother died while his father was away fighting the British in the Revolutionary War. When his father returned, with a new wife, Jon and his older sister moved to southern Massachusetts, where he met and fell in love with a young girl - Wendy. After a lengthy courtship and engagement, Jon finds himself standing at the altar on his wedding day in a church decorated with Wendy's favorite flower - the apple blossom. To his horror, Jon learns from Wendy's cousin that Wendy died on the morning of their wedding day from a heart disease she'd suffered from all her life. In a selfless act of love, Jon vows to create a memorial to his lost beloved and heads west to spread the sweet fragrance of her favorite flower across the face of the nation. Along the way, Jon Chapman mediates tensions between white settlers and the Native Americans, spreads the word of the gospel along the frontier, and helps a young Abraham Lincoln lead a slave and his family to freedom on the eve of the Civil War.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? - upbeat
Time/era of story - 1600-1899 -
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Exploring into the wild Yes
kind of story - colonizing/settling in new area

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - long lived adults
Ethnicity/Nationality

Main Adversary
Identity: - society
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Genius

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Midwest
Mountains/Cliffs Yes
Mountains: - climbing on trails
Forest? Yes
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Misc setting

Writing Style
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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