Book Description from Book Bub:
“Journey into the Blue Ridge Mountains of 1918 where Laurel McAdams endures the challenges of a hard life while dreaming things can eventually improve. But trouble arrives in the form of an outsider. Having failed his British father again, Jonathan Taylor joins is uncle’s missionary endeavors as a teacher in a two-room schoolhouse. Laurel feels compelled to protect the tenderhearted teacher from the harsh realities of Appalachian life, even while his stories of life outside the mountains pull at Laurel’s imagination. Faced with angry parents over teaching methods, Laurel’s father’s drunken rages, and bad news from England, will Jonathan leave and never return, or will he stay and let love bloom?”
My Review:
Be aware before you read this review: I going to gush about this book.
I did not want this book to end. The ending was perfect, but I knew when I finished the last page I would have to leave the story of these wonderful characters. From the very first page, I knew that I was going to love Laurel, the mountain girl with a compassionate heart and the longing to go to college to become a teacher. Jonathan, who comes to the mountains from England to be a teacher but wants to be a doctor, is also an inspirational character. But now I want to know what becomes of Maggie and Isom and Cora. We get a hint of the rest of their stories, but I’d love to see where the author would take them.
There’s humor and drama by turns in this storyline. Laurel’s faith and trust in God is a major theme throughout the storyline as she faces conflicts and challenges within her own family.
The beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains are a wonderful backdrop for this story. If you loved Catherine Marshall’s “Christy”, you would also love this book. It’s definitely not a copy of that book, but it has the same heart, emotions, and respect for the mountain people. This is a sweet and clean Christian historical novel that will touch your heart and make you smile. This book is what award-winning fiction should look like.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own