Angel Sister- Ann Gabhart

Angel Sister by Ann H. Gabhart

Review by: Melissa J. MacDonald

Genre: historical fiction

Publisher: Revell

Date: February 2011

Middle daughter Kate Merrit is doing her best to keep her family together. Growing up in Kentucky in  1936, life is hard. Her father is struggling with alcoholism, her mother is just trying to keep going, and her sisters seem oblivious to everything. In one quiet yet shocking moment an abandoned little girl changes everything. Lorena Birdsong is left on the doorsteps of the local church by a destitute family. Kate finds her and takes her home to mama. Slowly but surely Lorena and her story changes the Merrit family.

Perspectives switch throughout the book. We get gritty Kate’s perspective as she deals with all of the changes in her family. Kate’s father Victor lets us into his world of pain as he deals with a painful past and his current struggle with alcoholism. Kate’s mother Nadine’s  perspective shows us a wife who’s heart is breaking with both love and pain for her husband.

This is one of those books that you just have to read to truly enjoy. It starts out slowly but if you stick with it you will find it has a wonderful depth to it. The slowness is needed in order for you to fully enter into the story. Lorena is completely charming and she’ll steal your heart away. Gabhart writes with unbridled emotion and as the reader you truly feel all that the characters are feeling.

Rampant with the theme of love and forgiveness this book will slowly but surely steal you away. Take the time to immerse yourself in it and walk away change for the better.

Thank you to Revell Publishing for providing a copy of this book for review.

Rated: PG- for content

Still House Pond

Still House Pond

Author: Jan Watson

Genre: Historical, Fiction

Publisher: Tyndale

Date: July 2010

Lilly Gray Corbett is an adventurous 11 year old growing up in Kentucky in 1896. She can’t imagine anything better than living right on Troublesome Creek. She  loves her mama (Copper) and her step-daddy (John) and all of her little brothers and sisters. Lilly’s mama is an accomplished mid-wife and is often traveling around to deliver babies. Lilly  enjoys pleasing her mama but doesn’t always like babysitting all those sisters and brothers. She’d rather be outside near the creek discovering something, or someone, new.

Lilly’s daddy died when she was little in Lexington. One day Aunt Alice writes and invites Lilly to come spend part of the summer with her in the city. Copper has a hard time letting go of her little girl and allowing her to travel by herself on the train. However, she relents and Lilly is ecstatic about her adventure. In a mix-up of catastrophic proportions Lilly misses her train and is kidnapped by an angry neighbor. The family thinks Lilly is on the train bound for Aunt Alice and when that train crashes they fear the very worst. You’ll find yourself caught up as the story jumps between different characters and each character experiences their own defining moments. You throw in the Pelfry family maid who has a run in with a nefarious character and you’ll keep on reading this one.

There is something so effortless about the way Jan Watson writes and they way her books read. She’s been a favorite of mine for some time. She allows you to not only enter into the story but you enter into the lives of the characters. Still House Pond  doesn’t just bring you one event in the life of Lilly and her family, it allows you to join in on their day to day lives. It’s like settling into a warm quilt and enjoying a chat with friends. You’ll easily find yourself caught up in this read. Your heart will race as Lilly is kidnapped, hurt as Copper fears her daughter is dead, and be angry at the carelessness of the characters. You’ll enter in and enjoy every minute of it, I promise!

Rated PG- for birth scenes

Thank you to Tyndale Publishing for providing a copy of this book!