Books are beginning to overtake my house! So I have enlisted my friend Carrie to help me with the enormous reading backlog. Here are her thoughts on four historical novels from Bethany House Publishers.
The Doctor’s Lady by Jody Hedlund
Priscilla White has known that she wants to be a missionary since she was fifteen. Her plan is to go to India. Dr. Eli Ernest is about to travel back to Oregon to begin ministering to the Nez Perce Indians. What neither one of them anticipated was the missionary board declaring that they can’t go to their respective missions unless they are married. Circumstances dictate them to marry in name only and begin the long journey across the country. The Doctor’s Lady will remind you that God’s ways are better than our own and that even in our mistakes He can work miracles. This historical fiction novel is inspired by the true story of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. After reading this book, you will want to read about this amazing couple who journeyed into the unknown to go on mission to the Nez Perce.
A Heart Most Worthy by Siri Mitchell
Julietta, Annamaria, and Luciana are seamstresses for the popular and coveted dressmaker Madame Fortier in Boston in 1918. These three girls although very talented seamstresses are very different. Julietta is carelessly adventurous in chasing after love. Annamaria is quiet and reserved but longs for love and a family of her own, but is stuck taking care of her family as the oldest daughter instead of finding love. Luciana keeps her past and who she is a secret. If people discover who she really is many people will be would be in danger. Love still finds her though even in her secrecy. A Heart Most Worthy weaves together three women’s stories beautifully. This book will keep you thinking with romance, adventure, and danger around every corner.
Tillie Reese has dreamed her entire life of becoming a lady’s maid. As head parlor maid at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, Tillie realizes her dream may come true when the lady of the house Mrs. Edith Vanderbilt’s lady’s maid is planning to return to her home country of France. Mack Danvers, a mountain man who is not inclined to work long at the Biltmore, comes and challenges Tillie’s dreams with his aggressive behavior and strong beliefs. She is left to question everything she ever thought she wanted. Maid to Match is a delightful story of how the servant class was in the late 1800’s. It is full of lovable characters who you can’t help but care for and want to meet. It will leave you to ponder your life and what your dreams really are. By the end of the book you will want to plan a trip to North Carolina to see the Biltmore Mansion where this story takes place. (The Kindle version is currently 99 cents!)
Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin
Alice Grace Ripley lives the perfect life. She has a job she loves as a librarian. She gets to read all the time. She has a wonderful boyfriend. Life couldn’t be better; until she loses her job due to the Great Depression and her boyfriend breaks up with her. In a day’s time Alice’s world is turned upside down, and she feels like her life is spinning out of control. To get away from her circumstances, she leaves for Kentucky to drop off a donation of books to a small town very different from her own. No cars, no running water, no libraries. Suddenly Alice sees a purpose for herself: join the librarians for this coal-mining town and ride on horseback to homes to deliver books. What Alice discovers is life can give just as much adventure as a book. She discovers excitement, mystery, friendship, and even romance that she never experienced before. Wonderland Creek shows what life in the backwoods of Kentucky was like during the Great Depression. It portrays how some were able to read through the adventures of the traveling librarians.
(Thanks to Bethany House for complimentary copies of these books. All opinions are Carrie’s alone.)
Thanks so much, Carrie, for sharing your thoughts!
Carrie McNair is wife to Terry and mother to two active boys, Caden and Noah. Carrie is a Model Teacher. That means people from far and wide come to find out about excellence in the classroom by observing her and her students. A committed bookworm, Carrie makes sure her students develop a love of reading.
“Wonderland Creek” is a book someone recommended to me a while back, but I’ve not made time to read it. I’ll have to remedy this with all haste – even more so since it’s set in an era I really like. 🙂
It has been sitting on the shelf a long time. I’m glad Carrie shared her thoughts.