354 pages Revell publisher May 7, 2024 publish date
ABOUT THE BOOK
While 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. And all at once the doors that had seemed firmly shut begin to open, just a crack.
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 will end up becoming the family she always dreamed of.
From the pen of bestselling author Ann H. Gabhart comes a heartwarming story of the unexpected blessings that can come when we dare to follow the Lord’s leading.
MY THOUGHTS
I’ve enjoyed reading many of the author’s books over the years, but I do believe I have a new favorite.
The book is so realistic that I could have been watching a movie as I imagined all in my mind while reading this.
I absolutely love books taking place in Appalachia and the people represented there. The book just captured my heart and soul. A Christian book but not preachy or overbearing. The Appalachian people are special, considered slow and behind the times by some, they’re not. They just have their own way of thinking and doing things passed down from generation to generation. They have their own way of speaking and are very wary of outsiders and you can’t blame them.
If outsiders come in, they can change everything about the landscape of the area and make them just like everyone else. They enjoy living in the hollers, doing things their way and sticking amongst themselves.
When a preacher man comes in with his new wife, they are wary of them both but the longer they are there the more assimilated they become. I really liked the character, Ada June a young half wild girl child living mainly in the forest after her mother’s death.
Preacher’s wife, Mira has had so many trials in her life, from losing her intended fiancée to being made redundant at her teaching job but God made her a strong resilient woman and her new opportunity at life sees her shining as a preacher’s wife while teaching at a mission school in rural Kentucky.
I loved this book so much and can’t wait to see what the author has out next.
I was given a complimentary copy of the book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ann H. Gabhart caught the writing bug at the age of ten and has been writing ever since. An award winning author, she’s published many books for both adults and young adults. Her books cover several genres from historical to small town family stories to cozy mysteries (mysteries published with author name A.H. Gabhart). Her ideas are sparked by events in Kentucky history and by experiences in her own family. Her first Shaker novel, The Outsider, was a finalist for the ECPA Christian Fiction Book of the Year. Love Comes Home won the Selah Book of the Year award, and These Healing Hills was the Faith, Hope & Love Readers’ Choice Women’s Fiction Book of the Year.
Ann lives on a Kentucky farm not far from where she was born. She and her husband have three children and nine grandchildren. Ann enjoys hiking on her farm with her grandkids and her dogs, Frankie and Marley. See more about her books at http://www.annhgabhart.com or join the conversation on her Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/anngabhart.
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