The Song of Sourwood Mountain by Ann H. Gabhart ~ a book review

 

I’ve read a few books written by this author and have enjoyed them all. However; this one tops them all (so far). From the first page the reader is drawn into the lives of the characters.

The story opens with an unexpected proposal of marriage. Mira Dean’s fiancé has died and she has resigned herself to remaining single and childless.  She finds contentment in her job as a teacher. When Gordon Covington comes back to town, he is no longer the young school boy she remembers. He is now a preacher and he hopes to convince her to marry him and help run his ministry in Eastern Kentucky. Mira turns him down, first because she is content in the life she has settled into and second because she barely knows him. All this changes when she finds out that she will lose her job and her home. In the early 1900’s, a young woman who is with out a family or job and no home is left with few options. She agrees to the marriage and moves to the remote town of Sourwood, trusting that God will provide for her.

The people of Sourwood have a lifestyle that she has never been exposed to before. Mira is unfamiliar with the mountain way of living and the mountain way of talking. The author does a wonderful job of respectfully portraying the folks that make up the community. 

This is from the publisher's website:

 "The doors she thought were closed forever are starting to open up . . . just a crack

Though the century began with such promise, it is 1910 when Mira Dean's hopes of being a wife and mother are dashed to pieces. Her fiancé dead from tuberculosis, Mira resigns herself to being a spinster schoolteacher--until Gordon Covington shows up.
 
No longer the boy she knew from school, Gordon is now a preacher who is full of surprises. First, he asks Mira to come to Sourwood in Eastern Kentucky to teach at his mission school. Second, he asks her to marry him. Just like that.
 
With much trepidation, Mira steps out in faith into a life she never imagined, in a place filled with its own special challenges, to serve a people who just might end up becoming the family she always yearned for."

Mira and Gordon face many uncertainties, hardships and blessings.  Their faith helps them persevere and overcome.

This is one of those stories that you never want to end. I really hope this author revisits these endearing characters and Sourwood Mountain.

Go HERE to read an excerpt 

 Go HERE to learn about Ann H. Gabhart and her other books   

 

I rarely give a book 5 stars, but this one is worth it!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed  are my own.

 

In the Shadow of the River by Ann H. Gabhart ~ a book review

This story takes place on the very interesting setting of an old time showboat.  Right off the bat, we are drawn into a mystery and the suspense continues through out the story.   The story begins in 1881 , with the main character, Jacci, as a young girl, facing danger and along with her mother, fleeing for her life.

They find refuge on a showboat where her grandfather is the lead actor in the show.  Jacci grows up with her new “family” of showboat actors and crew. 

There are elements of mystery, suspense, suspicion, deception and a forbidden family secret.  Amongst all the excitement and mystery there is also love, forgivness and faith.  This is not a ‘preachey’ story but the character’s faith plays a crucial role.

The dialog is very entertaining and the author does a very good job depicting life on a historic showboat.

This is from the publisher’s website:

“If all the world's a stage, Jacci will play her part.

She only hopes her story does not turn out to be a tragedy.

In 1881, Jacci Reed is only five years old when a man attempts to kidnap her from the steamboat her mother, Irena, works on. Badly wounded during the confrontation, Irena takes Jacci aboard the Kingston Floating Palace, a showboat tied up beside them. There, Jacci's actor grandfather tends to her mother, and Jacci gets a first taste of the life she will come to lead.

Fifteen years later, Jacci is an actress aboard that same showboat and largely contented with her adopted family of actors, singers, and dancers. Especially Gabe, who has always supported her, and the gruff grandfather she has come to know and love. Jacci's mother has been gone for years, but the memory of the altercation that ultimately took her life--and the cryptic things Jacci has overheard about her past--is always there, lurking in the back of her mind.

When someone on the showboat tries to kill Jacci, it's clear her questions demand answers. But secrets have a way of staying in the shadows . . . and the answers she craves will not come easily.”

I loved this story.  It was very easy to read and very entertaining. The suspense and mystery will keep the reader guessing.  There is also a romantic element that will keep the reader’s interest.  Jacci has two suitors. Who can she trust?  Who will she choose?

Go HERE to read an excerpt:

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed  are my own.

Go HERE to learn more about Ann B. Gabhart and her other books:  

 

When the Meadow Blooms by Ann H. Gabhart ~ a book review

 

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!

Read an excerpt HERE.... 

 

 

 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.”