I give this book 2 stars, not because of the quality of writing, but because of the tone of the book itself. If I wanted to be so depressed that I would want to kill myself, I'd watch the news. There is no happy ending here. The characters' lives are just horrible, from start to finish. I spent most of the book crying - literally bawling. The writing is good, but the plot is absolutely the bleakest I've ever encountered.
Sentence of Marriage is about Amy Leith and her family, who live in the middle of nowhere New Zealand, and are farmers. The period is the late 1800's. Amy's mom passed away when she was 3. When she is 12, her father takes a trip to order some heavy farm equipment, and comes home 5 weeks later with a new wife. New wife is the classical wicked stepmother, who hit WAY TOO CLOSE to home for my liking. Seriously. New wife enjoys being miserable and treating everyone else like they are her servants. The serious family drama escalates when Stepmother's brother, Jimmy, comes for a visit, and seduces Amy. Amy thought she was in love with Jimmy, and accepted his proposal of marriage. But Jimmy had no integrity, and once Amy realized she was pregnant, Jimmy decided to return to the mainland to ask his father's permission to marry her. Big Surprise - he doesn't return. Stepmother emotionally abuses Amy until she agrees to give up her baby for adoption and marry the next door neighbor, surly drunkard Charlie Stewart. Heartbreaking stuff, and the only reason I kept reading was because I needed and was hoping for a happy ending of sorts. None came. Instead, there is only book 2, Mud and Dirt, to read.
The writing was some of the best I've read of books published via Smashwords, but the plot is a killer and not something I would ever read again.
