Review: What Momma Left Behind by Cindy K. Sproles

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About:

In the face of overwhelming obstacles, she'll need courage, grit, and a tender heart.

Worie Dressar is seventeen years old when influenza and typhoid ravage her Appalachian Mountain community in 1877, leaving behind a growing number of orphaned children with no way to care for themselves. Worie's mother has been secretly feeding several of these little ones on Sourwood Mountain. But when tragedy strikes, Worie is left to figure out why and how she was caring for them.

Plagued with two good-for-nothing brothers--one greedy and the other a drunkard--Worie must fight to save her home and the children now in her begrudging care. Along the way, she discovers the beauty of unconditional love and the power of forgiveness as she cares for all of Momma's children.

My Thoughts:

What a heartbreaking yet hope filled story that shows what life was like in the Appalachian Mountains, to a people that was mostly isolated. However, the modern world encroached bringing with it diseases and other evils.

This story starts off rather grim and I wondered how and if I could continue reading it. To say that life was not pretty for Worie, her family lost and two brothers that were no help, one especially more trouble than he was worth. But as I continued to read and get to know Worie, she was a tough woman. Inside and out. She obviously needed to work through some issues and especially the secrets her mother had left behind.

The greed and heartbreaking details surrounding evil men and orphaned children were hard to read about. To know that even today some are thought as cattle and all for some evil people's goals. How do we face that evil? Well like Worie learns, she does not have to do that alone. She has friends and she learns she has the promises of God as well. 

This was a difficult but good read. The places and time came to life as I read Worie's journey and watched as she discovered her purpose.

I was provided a copy of this novel from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

About the Author:

Cindy K. Sproles is the cofounder of Christian Devotions Ministries. An author, storyteller, and popular speaker, Cindy teaches at writers conferences across the country and directs the Asheville Christian Writers Conference in North Carolina. Editor of ChristianDevotions.us and managing editor for Straight Street Books and SonRise Devotionals, Cindy has a BA in business and journalism and lives in the mountains of East Tennessee with her family.