Photo from goodreads.com
About:
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?
Description from GoodReads.com
My Review:
| Because of where I'm from, mountain stories have a special place in my heart. However, I don't like how typical they can be, making the "mountain folk" illiterate, stupid backwoodsmen who can't talk right. (To be fair, a special way of speaking runs in that heritage, and a lot of people from the mountains never had the opportunity -or need- to learn to read and write). Pepper Basham's family is from the mountains of North Carolina, and she bases her story on real-life happenings. Her characters, in turn, are fun, interesting and relatable, and she honors her heritage in her writing. Laurel and Jonathan= one of my favorite book pairings! They're both pretty cool characters, and I loved their sweet interactions. Their traipses through the mountains together always made for a sweet moment. The time period is World War I, but Jonathan has been turned away from service due to an old injury. Likewise, Laurel's family deep in the mountains aren't impacted quite like the rest of the world in how the war has changed their lives. It was interesting to get a different, more hands-off view of the war, seeing how life was then for different cultures. Nothing ends perfectly with the rest of the characters, which I always love, because what in life turns out perfectly packaged? However, in the acknowledgements Pepper Basham promises us another story (yay!), so I'll be on the lookout! I voluntarily received this book from the author and publisher in order to write an honest review. All opinions are truly my own. |
![About [span]me[/span]](https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21317951_428793254184642_8407368185998172738_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=af697a8036e92d5bacac66a7d2da5045&oe=5C382B7B)
1 lovely thoughts
This sounds like such a cute story! Growing up in close to the NC Blue Ridge area, I have a great love for the area. :)
ReplyDeleteI love comments- they make my day! However, please be nice and leave no spam or comments with offensive language. Thanks!