‘Kate Marsden: nurse, intrepid adventurer, saviour of the lepers or devious manipulator, immoral and dishonest?’

As she lies on her deathbed visited by the ghosts of her past, who should we believe, Kate or those who accuse her of duplicity? Memory is a fickle thing: recollections may be frozen in time or distorted by the mirror of wishful thinking. Kate’s own story is one of incredible achievements, illicit love affairs and desperate longing; those of her accusers paint a very different portrait – of a woman determined on fame and fortune.

The reader navigates a narrative as fractured as the Siberian ice Kate crosses in search of a cure for leprosy, and as beautiful as Rose, her lost love, as the full picture emerges of a life lived when women were not expected to break the mould.

Review:

Insightful, engaging, and intriguing!

God’s Children is a fascinating interpretation about the life of Kate Marsden, a British nurse who in 1891 travelled across the Siberian wilderness to find a cure for Leprosy and to raise funds for the construction of a hospital where those afflicted with this degenerative disease could find care and comfort.

The prose is clear and precise. The characters are devout, steadfast, and independent. And the plot using a past/present style sweeps you back and forth between the late-1800s and early-1900s through a world filled with forbidden love, loss, deception, manipulation, riches, power, loneliness, hope, courage, and scandal.

I have to admit that I knew very little about Kate Marsden when I started God’s Children but Roberts did such a wonderful job of blending historical facts with compelling fiction that I was not only left entertained but questioning whether Marsden was truly a missionary with a pure heart or merely a selfish woman seeking a life above her means.

This novel is available now.

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