The Tea Chest

The Tea Chest by Heidi Chiavaroli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Tea Chest is a split-time novel set in present-day and Revolutionary War-era Boston, Massachusetts. As the title suggests, a tea chest plays an important role in the story and serves as the main connecting point between the modern and historical characters. The modern day character, Hayley, comes from a dysfunctional family and has tried to find herself through a Navy career and attempting to become a Navy Seal. The home life of Revolutionary War character Emma isn't much better and she struggles to decide if loyalty or liberty is a greater virtue. The story centers around Emma and her involvement in the war effort. Hayley learns of Emma's story while researching the tea chest and discovers Emma's story is more important personally than she first anticipated.

The Tea Chest is a well-done historical novel that uses the split-time technique effectively to introduce the story and to provide a backdrop which sets the stage for each new development in addition to a interesting sub-plot. While published by Tyndale House, a Christian publisher, the story is not overly Christian or religious beyond the characters praying and a few references to Jesus and heaven which don't stand out much as they are fit into the historical time period. If I was not aware that I was reading a book from a Christian publishing house, I would not have realized it is supposed to fall into the "religious/Christian fiction" category.

I received an ARC of this book from Tyndale House via NetGalley.

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