Bonita – Reviewed by: Lily Amanda, Hollywood Book Review

Bonita by author Carl R. Brush is a story set in 19th-century California against the backdrop of the Gold Rush, California power struggles, and the American Civil War. Bonita, a strong-willed young woman on the cusp of womanhood, discovers a hidden past and is determined to find out the secrets that lie behind it.

She maneuvers through life and tries to carve out her path in life even as a swirling romance threatens to thump her goal. She encounters many obstacles including people masquerading as friends but who do not mean well for her.

The young heroine is however determined and resolute, as she fights for her rights as a woman in an era where patriarchy was upheld and revered. She is subsequently thrown into the politics of land ownership and American politics but tackles these with courage.

Bonita is a story of love, friendship, bonds, and rich history. Carl R. Brush presents readers with a state that is struggling to stay afloat and build itself from years of dominion while also rightfully aware of neighboring enemies that rival its growth and prosperity.

Bonita is a strong female lead that manages to capture a reader’s heart, and one will find themselves rooting for her as she careens across her life transformations and the politics of the day. Based on true events, the historical research was aptly done and forms a basis for understanding different periods that shaped American history. Brush’s novelistic representation of the events provides rationale, passion, and contemplation to augment the bare cadaver of the presented facts.

The prose is also illustrative, allowing for the formation of vivid landscapes and layered fascination, and retains a flow that both enthralls and educates. Ultimately, Carl Brush delivers a classic that fans of character-driven stories, headstrong heroines, a touch of romance, and rich history, will effortlessly find binge-worthy. Transporting and informative, Bonita can be enjoyed as a whole or in stages.