The Librarian of Boone's Hollow by Kim Vogel Sawyer

 

“It’s a bit unnerving making a trek to an unknown place, where everyone is a stranger.”

Kentucky 1856, Depression Era. Addie was at college, getting ready for her final exams when she's told that she can't continue, because her parents hadn't paid the bill. Quite a shock. She had to find a job. She had a part time job in a library and learned of a program that President Roosevelt started, bringing books to the poor people. There was an opening in Boone's Hollow delivering books and it paid very well. She was afraid but was left little choice. It turned out to be the hometown of a fellow college student that she briefly met recently. He was looking for work too. Deeply moving story of these two and the people of Black Mountain. Superstition, old grudges and ignorance were a hallmark of this small backwoods town, where everyone knew everyone else, back for generations. Beautiful story of God's love and Grace. You thoroughly get to know these people, true to life. Where it seemed hopeless, God's love and light shown in. 

I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

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"Stories can stir compassion, can inspire integrity, can show different lifestyles and problem-solving skills."

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River to Redemption by Ann H. Gabhart

Another fabulous novel so well written that you get close to the characters right away. A cholera outbreak severely affects a town and the residents in it. The story is written around a true story of what took place at the time. There are places in the story that you wish would last longer and places where you can't read fast enough. You don't want to miss a word, but you just have to know how it turns out. It does turn out in some ways unexpected, but refreshing, and with wonderful illustrations of God's work in our lives.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the Author and Revell/Baker Publishing Group - Netgalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed 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.”

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Description from the Publisher:
Orphaned in the cholera epidemic of 1833, Adria Starr was cared for by a slave named Louis, a man who stayed in Springfield, Kentucky, when anyone with means had fled. A man who passed up the opportunity to escape his bondage and instead tended to the sick and buried the dead. A man who, twelve years later, is being sold by his owners despite his heroic actions. Now nineteen, Adria has never forgotten what Louis did for her. She's determined to find a way to buy Louis's freedom. But in 1840s Kentucky, she'll face an uphill battle.
Based partly on a true story, Ann H. Gabhart's latest historical novel is a tour de force. The vividly rendered town of Springfield and its citizens immerse readers in a story of courage, betrayal, and honor that will stick with them long after they turn the last page.

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These Healing Hills by Ann H. Gabhart

Isn't that a great cover? Christian Historical fiction based on the Frontier Nursing Service in the hills of Kentucky. Fran wanted to be a nurse and go overseas to serve, but her mother wouldn’t let her go. Then the boy she was going to marry when he got back from the war became engaged to a girl he met in England. After all, she was there and Fran was back home. Fran heard about the training in Kentucky and went to learn to be a nurse midwife and is taken with the beauty of the hills right away. She had heard about the “hillbillies” where she grew up in Cincinnati but quickly learned the truth about these people who were fiercely loyal to their mountains and families, and had great common sense and knowledge. The new school provided additional knowledge and the death rate went down but the “Grannies” had been the midwives and healers for years and had skills and talents of their own.

Ben had been away as a medic in the war. Just after Germany surrendered he was injured by a patient and sent home early. He had missed home greatly and was glad to get back, but things had changed and so had he. His father had passed while he was away and his little brother and sisters had grown – one even married and carrying a child. It will take a bit to learn what had gone on while he was away. And to decide what he would do now that he had returned, whether to stay and take care of his family or take advantage of the GI Bill and return to school.

I always love stories of people who “live off the land”. I appreciate having grocery stores and restaurants but miss the old times. When we were growing up we planted food crops and put them up, and had lots of berries to pick within a short walk of our small farm.  I used to go to the library and get books about the weeds and plants growing everywhere, their medicinal properties and how they had been used. We are finding that getting back to basics is healthier for us.  There is a lot to be admired about the “hillbilly ways”. This is a great story of old ways meeting the new, and the advantages to be found in both. And new relationships and the value in helping and learning from one another.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the Author and Revell/Baker Publishing Group - Netgalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed 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.”

From the Publisher:
Francine Howard has her life all mapped out until the soldier she planned to marry at WWII's end writes to tell her he's in love with a woman in England. Devastated, Francine seeks a fresh start in the Appalachian Mountains, training to be a nurse midwife for the Frontier Nursing Service.

Deeply affected by the horrors he witnessed at war, Ben Locke has never thought further ahead than making it home to Kentucky. His future shrouded in as much mist as his beloved mountains, he's at a loss when it comes to envisioning what's next for his life.

When Francine's and Ben's paths intersect, it's immediately clear that they are from different worlds and value different things. But love has a way of healing old wounds . . . and revealing tantalizing new possibilities.


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