The Honorable Impostor Book Review.

Title of Book: The Honorable Impostor.
Author: Gilbert Morris.
Gene: Historical Fiction, Romance.
Plot: In chapter one we are introduced to Lord, Lady and Cecily North, a pretty picture is drawn of them as they chatter together and prepare to attend a ball held at Lord Roth’s luxurious castle. The ball begins on time with Lord Roth and Lady Cecily dancing together the first dance, later on Cecily is sitting with a friend of hers when they both notice a newcomer to the dance floor who singles Cecily out to dance with and the smart-alack heiress soon discovers that his wit is as sharp as her own and his taste for romance and poetry much the same as well. Tis only after the dance that she learns from her father that he is the poor minister who is also a distant cousin. In the next couple of chapters we quickly learn that young Gilbert Winslow is reckless and has a bad track record at his college and we learn that he hates his older brother Edward because he thinks he and their father are trying to force him to become a minister against his will. The morning after the ball we discover that Lord North, Lord Roth and the Bishop want Gilbert to work for them and he, being desirous of escaping his imagined fate of minister, promptly accepts and then learns that they want him to infiltrate a group of English people living in Leyden, Holland who are called Brownists or, as we know them better as, the Pilgrims.
Throughout the first and second half of the book Gilbert battles with his sense of honor and his desire to rise in the world while he befriends several of the Pilgrims {including John Howland, John Carver and William Bradford} and works his way into the church and the Pilgrims’ good graces. His mission is to find the location of William Brewster who is wanted by the King for having illegally published pamphlets stating that the Church of England was false and needed purifying {basically anyway} and when Gilbert puts two and two together he figures that Miss Humility Cooper is his key to success. Gilbert begins to woo her first without any intentions save to find Brewster but later he abruptly discovers that he loves her, by then things have started rolling very fast in that he is now trusted enough to be told that Brewster does communicate with the little church through Humility but he’s also told that the rumored trip to the New World will indeed take place. With so many things on his mind the battle with his honor begins again and suddenly he finds himself heading to England with Humility to tell Brewster of the trip to America and bring him to one of the ships. One evening a few days after their arrival at his hide-out Brewster reads the story of Jesus’ betrayal and Gilbert hastily leaves the house and has a final showdown with the warring emotions within in him, his sense of honor prevails and he returns to the small house very happy and relieved only to find that he’s too late. Lord Roth is there and the whole story of Gilbert’s infiltration comes out before the two fight a duel.
Gilbert kills Lord Roth but he is badly wounded and while he’s unconscious Brewster and a brokenhearted Humility take him to a place of safety where they remain for three weeks before word comes that the Mayflower hasn’t sailed yet due to the trouble with the other ship and Gilbert, though he isn’t fully recovered yet, rushes them off through the night to the harbor with the intention of dropping them off at the ship and making a break for France but in the process of getting Humility and Brewster onboard the severe wound in his leg is reopened and Edward refuses to put him back on shore though the brothers both know that practically the whole ship hates him for his treachery and near-betrayal. As Gilbert slowly mends on the rough trip across the Atlantic he grows bitter then, as his bitterness wears off, he loses his will to enjoy life and becomes numb to everything around him save his regret for the past and his hopeless love for Humility who hates him of course.
While onboard Gilbert is befriended by Miles Standish who takes to the tall young man and William Bradford opens his heart also to Gilbert while two sailors named Daggot and Coffin grow in their hatred of the Pilgrims and Daggot loses his life while trying to take Gilbert’s in a surprise-attack swordfight. When the Pilgrims reach the New World more trouble awaits them in the form of sickness with several dying while exploration parties are sent ashore. They finely decide on New Plymouth for the site of their colony and Gilbert throws himself into the hard work, taking a bitter enjoyment in the harsh, cold weather while his character, which had been broken down, begins to rebuild itself into a better man. He volunteers to look after the sick crew of the ship during the height of the sickness and makes a difference that way while the miraculous recovery of his young orphan friend Tink has him thinking, not only about life and death, but also about the Presence he feels that is actually God trying to get his attention. Several more life-threatening adventures and a visit from his past later Gilbert finely gives in and accepts God and His plan for his life.
Gilbert Winslow shows us in this action-packed historical fiction that it is possible to change; he was a headstrong, reckless, rebellious young man who had his whole life turned upside down and given a good shake. He came out of it all with a stronger character, a bolder mindset, more confident, less reckless, still stubborn and a believer in the God he’d first rejected in his wasted youth. He was given a second chance and he made the most of though he probably didn’t know that at the time.
Likes/Dislikes of the Book: I enjoyed all the action that was packed into the thirty chapters and Gilbert’s transformation from rebellious youth to the mature man God wanted him to be was very well written and flowed smoothly together from chapter to chapter. I would have preferred that the natural attraction Gilbert felt for the two female lead-roles could have been downplayed a lot less and there was rather too much kissing. But all in all it was a very good book.
Rating: I rate this book as a PG -14 or 15 mainly because younger children might not understand half of the story and of course the kissing between the unmarried couples might not be something young children should read about but older teens with good discernment for such things and their parents’ permission will probably enjoy this book.
Date First Report Written: May 25, 2009.
Date Second Report Written: January 8, 2010.