Reading Guide: In Pursuit

A Historical Novel of Abduction, Passion, Love, Greed, and War

Reviews

“Dear readers of In Pursuit, prepare for a literary feast. A novel that is both elegant and electrifying, chock-full of intrigue and suspense, and a love story that is utterly absorbing, I  inhaled  In  Pursuit  like  a  decadent  meal,  unable  to  slow  my  delight  until  the  last, delicious page. As she proved in her beautifully-crafted  debut Swimming with Serpents, Sharman Ramsey knows her history and—more importantly—the  hearts and minds of her characters.   They  shine  here  once  again—and   I  ponder  them,  and  their  remarkable journeys, still.”
—Erika Marks, author of The Guest House

Historian and author Sharman Ramsey has worked magic with her latest novel In Pursuit. Ramsey  is a born  storyteller  and what  a tale she has woven  with  this novel.  One part adventure and one part historical fiction, this novel is all parts intrigue. Ramsey reminds us that love, passion and greed are human experiences  regardless of the era. Readers are sure to savor this educational and entertaining historical novel.
—Michael Morris, Man in the Blue Moon

History comes to life in this rip-roaring novel that starts out in a tearoom in London then sweeps across the seas in a pirate ship to the Spanish  territory  of Florida soon after the Battle of New Orleans. Sharman Ramsey has spun a rollicking story of kidnappings,  lost treasures,  Red Stick Creeks  and Seminoles,  betrayal  and revenge,  populated  with well- known historical  figures such as Jean Lafitte, Billy Bowlegs, William  Weatherford,  and even Old Hickory himself, Andrew Jackson.”
—Cassandra King, author of The Same Sweet Girls

About the Book

Creek half-breed and survivor of the Creek Indian War, Joie Kincaid and the nemesis she rescued from certain death after the Massacre at Fort Mims are kidnapped from a tea room in London. Joie awakens with amnesia—after having been struck on the head—to find herself in the hold of a ship sailing to the pirate Gasparilla’s lair in Charlotte Harbour and bound to a man she finds
strangely familiar.
To save himself and Joie, the preeminent scholar Godfrey Lewis Winkel is forced to take heroic action. As a story of passion unfolds between the two, Joie Kincaid must overcome a childhood of abuse and rejection to accept love she had never known. Together they weather the tempests of pirates, illness, the Seminole War, family vendetta, and a hurricane to find their way to each other and a love
neither could have imagined.
Interwoven in this action-packed adventure is the long-forgotten tale of hope and betrayal at the Negro Fort, the plight of the Red Sticks after Horseshoe Bend, the greed of a pirate longing for a legacy, Andrew Jackson’s single-minded vision of a nation’s manifest destiny, and the British officers who seek to redeem a promise and forge an empire. In Pursuit continues the family saga begun in Swimming with Serpents, a story of love, war, and redemption set against the Creek Indian War.

Questions for Discussion

1. How has climate change affected the every day lives of people in England at the beginning of the novel?
2. What have people observed that frightened them?
3. What were their conclusions?
4. What do we find out later is the cause of this change?
5. Who are the Red Sticks?
6. What is their relationship with the British?
7. What is the Corps of Colonial Marines?
8. For what purpose were Red Sticks and Blacks conscripted by the British?
9. What did they promise them?
10. What is the difference between the Treaty of Fort Jackson and the Treaty of Ghent? Which according to American law should take precedence?
11. Are there contemporary comparisons?
12. Do you think family relationships affected behavior? How so?
13. Discuss the different possible reasons for the title "In Pursuit."

Enhancing Your Book Club
1. Visit Sharman Burson Ramsey’s website at http://www.sharmanbursonramsey.com. You'll find videos, reviews, behind-the-book extras and interviews.
2.  Discuss how the situation in the Creek country escalated to the point of war. Is there a point at which the conflict could have been avoided? Is there a lesson here in considering religion, the economy, and cultural conflicts in today's world?
3. To find out more about victims of war here in the U.S. visit http://www.fugeesfamily.org/