Hope blooms at Meadowland
If any place on God's earth was designed to help one heal, it is Meadowland.
Surely here, at her brother-in-law's Kentucky farm, Rose and her daughters can
recover from the events of the recent past--the loss of her husband during the
1918 influenza epidemic, her struggle with tuberculosis that required a stay at
a sanatorium, and her girls' experience in an orphanage during her illness. At
Meadowland, past troubles become rich soil in which faith can grow.
Dirk Meadows may have opened his home to his late brother's widow and her
girls, but he keeps his heart tightly closed. The roots of his pain run deep,
and the evidence of it is written across his face. Badly scarred by a fire and
abandoned by the woman he loved, Dirk fiercely guards his heart from being hurt
again.
But it may be that his visitors will bring light back into his world and unlock
the secret to true healing.
My Thoughts:
This is a story that takes place during 1925 but is a little bit different than other stories I have read in that time. Instead of focusing on flappers and other familiar events of the roaring twenties, we instead go out to the country. And that is where a makeshift family will need to heal and become a true family.
Rose has lost her husband to the influenza of 1918 and now she is dealing with tuberculosis. She has been living at a sanitorium for two years while her daughters, Calla and Sienna, have had to live at an orphanage home. All three are prisoners of sorts unable to break free until they contact Dirk Meadows, Rose's brother-in-law to help them.
Dirk is a scarred closed up man who has been longing for his lost love. He decided that he would live a secluded life until his late brother's family reach out to him for help. Now he has a choice. Will he let the past go and embrace the future, or will he let the past continue to haunt him?
I liked the growth of this family. None of them had it easy. Rose's health was fragile, and Dirk's heart was broken. There were some secrets that needed to be revealed before any could move on and these revelations gave them all pause to consider the future.
This was a sweet story of overcoming and embracing what you have that is right before you. I liked reading a different side of the 1920's, a little bit more romance would have made this an even better read.
I received a copy of this novel from Revell Publishing through Interviews and Reviews. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.
About the Author:
Ann H. Gabhart is the bestselling author of Along a Storied Trail, An Appalachian Summer, River to Redemption, These Healing Hills, and Angel Sister, along with several Shaker novels--The Refuge, The Outsider, The Believer, The Seeker, The Blessed, and The Gifted. She and her husband live on a farm a mile from where she was born in rural Kentucky. Ann enjoys discovering the everyday wonders of nature while hiking in her farm's fields and woods with her grandchildren and her dogs, Frankie and Marley. Learn more at www.annhgabhart.com.
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