Toil Under the Sun

Leighton Family Saga Book 1

Fiction - Historical - Event/Era
212 Pages
Reviewed on 07/23/2019
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Tiffany Ferrell for Readers' Favorite

Toil Under the Sun: Leighton Family Saga Book 1 is the story about two brothers headed down different paths in their lives. William Leighton is a young bricklayer living in Manchester in the mid-1800s. He is caring for his widowed and fading mother, while one brother left with his wife for Australia and the other not caring to help with their mother's increasing needs. After the departure of her oldest son Aaron, to William’s dismay, she began losing her senses and the will to live. William's other brother Hugh is always at odds with him. They have very different beliefs and Hugh has always been jealous that William had an education when he hadn’t, even if it had only been for a few years. Unable to deal with the loneliness and sadness following the death of her husband and her oldest son leaving, William's mother hangs herself so as to no longer be a burden on her youngest son.

Author Vicki Hopkins tells an amazing story about two siblings at odds with one another. It’s very relatable and an enjoyable read. Toil Under the Sun gives the reader the feeling of being from the lower classes, trying to survive and thrive in such a way that you can easily step into William's shoes. I always like learning about pieces of history that I hadn’t before and Hopkins’s book has urged me to research further into Manchester, their bricklayers and how the unions really operated back then. I will definitely be looking out for the other Leighton family saga books! A must-read for fans of dramatic and historical fiction dealing with social issues and family relationships.