Adelsverein: The Gathering
by Celia Hayes
Published by Strider Nolan Media, Inc. (December release)
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Reviewed by Beth Cummings
Celia Hayes lives in San Antonio, Texas. In this, the first in a trilogy, she details the settling of the Texas Hill Country that lies between San Antonio and Austin, and area that now contains the cities of New Braunfels and Fredericksburg.
This first book follows two lines. The first is the story of Carl Becker, who as a sixteen-year-old boy survived the massacre of Texan militia that surrendered to the Mexican Army at Goliad, shortly after the fall of the Alamo. He became a Texas Ranger and rode with Captain Jack Hays. While the story is fictional, the massacre and Captain Hays of the Rangers are historical truths.
The second line is the saga of the Steinmetz/Vogel/Richter families that left Ulm, Bavaria to emigrate to Texas in 1847 under the auspices of Prince Rolf Solms-Braunfels and the Mainzer Adelsverein–a society of German noblemen who sought to make a profit by investing and populating land in Texas with German farmers and craftsmen. The family of Vati Steinmetz, an educated clockmaker, includes his wife, stepdaughters, a son-in-law, young sons and grandchildren. They travel in steerage on a sailing ship to Galveston and then go by ox cart to New Braunfels, about thirty miles north of San Antonio. Their land claims are in the region where Fredericksburg exists later.
Hayes has taken a relatively obscure piece of Texan history and created an interesting family to tell its story. The two lines come together when Carl Becker courts the eldest daughter, Magda Vogel. The saga is rich in detail from the hellish nightmare of the sea journey to the beauty of the hill country.
This first book in the series follows the family through 1853, with deaths, births and marriages, and homes being built. By 1853, Fredericksburg was a large enough town to have a 4th of July celebration.
Unfortunately, while Celia Hayes has her historical facts well in hand, she doesn’t do as well with conversations between her characters. It seems stilted and often slows the pace of the story. The people are interesting but frequently there is no emotional connection between them and the reader.
Armchair Interviews says: At times it seems less like a novel than a history, which could turn off some readers.
Author’s Web site: http://www.CeliaHayes.com