This story starts out on a sad note. Rose’s husband has died in the 1918 influenza epidemic and left her with two daughters to raise. Calla is the oldest. She is sensible, settled, down to earth. The younger, Sienna, is a free spirit, sometimes reckless and wild. Her character offers some comedic relief from the heaviness of the story. While, at first, the three seem to be managing, that all comes to an end when Rose contracts TB and has to go to a sanatorium. The girls are placed in an orphanage. Calla adapts to all the harsh rules and sometimes cruel punishments but Sienna can’t. She often finds herself on the receiving end of discipline. This was especially hard for me to read because I had a beloved family member spend some time in an orphanage about the same time frame of this story. While the circumstances were different, my beloved ancestor, like the girls in the story, wasn’t a true orphan. Just as Calla and Sienna asked themselves daily, “Is this the day my mother comes for us?” I wondered if my family member asked “Is this the day my Daddy will come?”
As the story progresses, we find Rose’s late husband’s brother, Dirk, stepping in and offering his home to Rose and her daughters. Dirk has his own problems, and while he is generous with his home, he wants no emotional attachment. He has been injured in a fire and has facial scars that cause him to be stand offish. Through flashbacks to his past , we learn the mystery of what happened.
Throughout the story, Rose’s faith is strong and encouraging to Dirk.
While the beginning of the story is sad, the story itself is heartwarming, at times funny, with the thread of mystery woven through it, and God’s faithfulness is evident.
This is from the publisher’s website:
“If any place on God's earth was designed to help one heal,
it is Meadowland. Surely here, at her brother-in-law's Kentucky farm, Rose and
her daughters can recover from the events of the recent past--the loss of her
husband during the 1918 influenza epidemic, her struggle with tuberculosis that
required a stay at a sanatorium, and her girls' experience in an orphanage
during her illness. At Meadowland, past troubles become rich soil in which
faith can grow.
Dirk Meadows may have opened his home to his late brother's widow and her
girls, but he keeps his heart tightly closed. The roots of his pain run deep,
and the evidence of it is written across his face. Badly scarred by a fire and
abandoned by the woman he loved, Dirk fiercely guards his heart from being hurt
again.
But it may be that his visitors will bring light back into his world and unlock
the secret to true healing.”
I loved this book so much that I gave it 5 stars!
Learn more about the author, Ann H. Gabhart HERE.....
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell and
Baker
Publishing Group through their book review program. I was not required to write
a positive review. The opinions expressed above are my own. I am disclosing
this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides
Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
