In this mission to read down my Netgalley queue, I have come across some excellent books that I have basically been ignoring for years. The Dutch Girl by Donna Thorland has just languished on my queue and I ended up reading it in a matter of a few days. Thorland’s book may be the fourth in a series, but it completely stands on its own. This is a story set during the Revolutionary War era and is so compelling.

The Dutch Girl is about Anna Winters – a woman who runs a finishing school in New York City. There is a woman touring her school who ends up sucking Anna back into her past – back when she was Annatje, the daughter of a tenant farmer who lead this rebellion against the owner of the patroonage where they lived. Anna returns to Harenwyck with the mission of getting the patroon to allow the Rebels to use his land. What Anna doesn’t account for is falling for a blast from her past – Gerrit, the man who should have been patroon. Thorland’s story then takes a decidedly romantic turn as we discover just what happened between Anna and Gerrit as well as secrets from Gerrit’s past as well.

There is action and adventure within The Dutch Girl. I also felt like I learned about something I didn’t have a ton of knowledge about – Dutch patroonages, and I grew up required to take New York State history in school as a kid. This book even talks about slavery too. It doesn’t shy away from the fact that there’s a dark history on the patroonages.

One of the scenes – the best scene in the book is about cider pressing. It had these autumn vibes which I just loved. It has been rainy and windy and wet here and The Dutch Girl absolutely sustained me through that weather. It feels like this book just came out of nowhere for me, but I loved it. I do think I will pursue reading more from Thorland because it has what I want from a historical fiction book – romance, adventure, and I learned something.

I loved this book. It was a fresh historical fiction read for me and the romance was sweet and realistic.

An interesting choice for historical setting, but more of a romance than I was expecting. Strong female heroine, but I think it was written for more of a younger audience. A great book for the right person.