Betrayal at Cross Creek

This is the 22nd book in the History Mysteries series and is an extremely good book, based on an actual event during the Revolutionary War.

In this book Elspeth is a young Scottish girl who is thrust into the political machinations going on at the time in relationship to the Loyalists, who were in support of the British King, and the Patriots, who wanted the colonies to be free of England.

That same theme has been used in another American Girl series (the books about Felicity), but this is a much grittier, nastier story and basically more realistic. The Patriots want the Scottish people living in North Carolina to join their cause, while the Loyalists want them to join their cause. Her grandfather is the one that is expected to make the decision as to which side they will join.

Elspeth is learning about weaving, a trade which she can use to earn money when she gets older.

The problems arise when she and various members of her family are confronted by Patriots who demand that her grandfather side with them. These are not polite confrontations; they are threats being made and pressure being put on relatively young children by the grown adults. Elspeth realizes that someone is betraying her family, letting the Patriots know where they will be so they can be ambushed by the Patriots.

The situation gets much, much worse, though, as a comparison is made with a Scottish war against the British decades earlier. Her grandfather ends up deciding to side with the Loyalists and he and other men go to meet up with the British army and everything falls apart.

They are ambushed by the Patriots and many are killed and captured. The Patriot males then engage in a program of retaliation, burning the homes of people who supported the Loyalists, even if it meant putting women and children out homeless in the wilds. Some of the men they even hung.

There was no mercy shown, no consideration shown. It was a form of barbaric behavior that the historical section of the book verifies did actually take place. They resulted in the long term in around 100,000 people leaving the U.S. to move to Canada and other places and get away from the brutal pogram that was being carried on against those who supported the British.

This is not a pretty story, but it's one told very, very well and it's extremely interesting. There's also some Scottish history material that's covered along with what is going on in the colonies so it's interesting from various angles. Definitely a book worth reading.

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