A Promise Child

We have all heard of the Great Depression from either our history books or perhaps a family member has shared their experience with you, but very few have been impacted by it except those who have experienced it. I have heard it said, that the reason so many people are 'hoarders' is that they remember living through the Great Depression years. It is a by-product of those times. Yet we don't really understand or even empathize with those who have because it hasn't impacted us. I have had the distinct honor to read a series of novels by Kathryn Spurgeon who has based each of her novels around the true stories of her parents or grandparents stories of what they dealt with during their times of growing up.

In the novel The Promise Child, she takes readers into the very heart of what the Great Depression felt like for the Trimble/Pope family. For Sibyl Trimble Pope, she remembers the life of prosperity her family had had during her younger years when she was a child. They never had want for anything. They may have watched the beginning signs of struggle for others but it never really impacted them until she married and watched the signs of the times and had hoped that they would weather the storm. She watched her father leave their family and divorce her mother leaving their children behind to fend for themselves. This was a time in which divorce was considered a bit of a curse in small towns. No one did that. No one had an affair in affluent families and simply walk away for greener pastures elsewhere. But that is what her father had done.

Now with the Depression hitting everyone, her mother and remaining siblings were struggling to make ends meet. To find ways to make clothes and shoes last a bit longer. To find ways to even put food on the table. Sibyl herself in her own new family feels like she needs to help. Her own husband Fremont hold on to the filling station they purchased to help make ends meet. Yet with fewer and fewer people being able to fill their cars, their own business is falling apart. She tries to reach out to her father who is well enough to help but figures out that they need to manage their finances better and refuses to help any of them. Her only option is to take her father up on a job offer and leave her family for a short time to send back money working in the bigger cities or pack up what they have and head for the west where people have been heading since this began.

I received A Promise Child by Kathryn Spurgeon compliments of Memory House Publishing. This really opened my eyes up to the struggle of families have to endure the effects of the Great Depression. Trying to stretch your food sources as much as possible, even doing without food so your own children didn't go hungry. It really grabs hold of you and makes you a witness to what is happening not only to the Pope family but others that they are watching go through it with them. I didn't want to put this book down because I was emotionally invested in their family and their struggles. I was praying and rooting for them to make it every step of the way and for me, those are ear-marks of an exceptional book and the reason for my 5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about A Promise Child, Kathryn Spurgeon or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

A Promise Child by Kathryn Spurgeon

You can find Kathryn Spurgeon on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest books.

To read more reviews on A Promise Child, please visit Memory House Publishing's website. 

A Trail of Crumbs

"He got that bread and broke it all to bits. As he and Gretel followed behind their father into the dark woods, he dropped pieces of it behind them, leaving a trail of crumbs so they could find their way back home." "They never went home," Beanie said. "Once you go, you can't never get back." (pg12).

Pearl Spence has had a tough life up to this point in her life. Having survived the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma, she wonders if there is such a place in the world that offers anything green anywhere. However when another unexpected dust storm rolls into the town of Red River, this one will devastate the Spence family in ways they couldn't see coming. This time it would claim the life of her sister Beanie whose only goal in life was to be a part of Pearl's world and she stood back and watch as the dust storm consumed her without being able to do anything to stop it.

It was at that moment that the Spence family knew they had to leave while they could. Most of the town was filled with the places people used to live in before and now there were only a handful of families that remained, most of them unable to leave because they couldn't afford it or had no where to go. Pearl's family takes her Uncle Gus and Aunt Carrie up on the offer to move to Michigan at the height of the depression, but for her family it feels like a dream come true to see greenery in a land again and to raise your own food in gardens. However it was a complete change for Pearl's mama who seemed to have physically left Oklahoma but not mentally.

Pearl struggles to fit in where society has already laid claim to who fits in and who doesn't. She watches as her friend Ray makes friends while she is almost considered an outcast. She tries to act tough despite all she has been through, but it's not enough to make friends. She even finds more in common with the boys than with those her own age and her Momma is bound and determined to ensure Pearl acts like a lady, even if she doesn't want to.

I received A Trail of Crumbs by Susie Finkbeiner compliments of Kregel Publications.In accordance with the new FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book reviewed here at Reviews From The Heart was provided to the reviewer by the publisher, media group or the author for free and were received, unless specified otherwise.  This novel follows on the heels of her first novel A Cup of Dust where we first meet Pearl and her family. It picks up exactly where the other one left off and we still see the struggles Pearl has to face with dealing with a kidnapping by a crazy man who dragged her off into the cellar. Now she is trying to find a sense of normal in a world that is anything but. When her sister dies, Pearl has only her Momma to connect with, but it seems even she is disconnected from trying to find a new start for the family which again leaves Pearl to fend for herself with only her dad and Ray as crumbs that lead her home. I give this novel a 4 out of 5 stars in my opinion and would have liked to have seen more about the Great Depression written into this book, much like the Dust Bowl still makes an impression in not only the first novel but also in this one. For me, it was kinda misleading since the cover states it is a novel of the Great Depression, but you don't really felt like anyone was dealing with it in the novel.

For more information about A Trail of Crumbs, Susie Finkbeiner or where to pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

A Trail of Crumbs by Susie Finkbeiner

You can find Susie Finkbeiner on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on A Trail of Crumbs, please visit Kregel Publications website.

A Promise to Break

WOW! I almost gave up on this novel but took a break and resettled back into it someplace where the outside distractions of life were not present and I am so glad I did! A Promise to Break is the debut novel of Kathryn Spurgeon that chronicles the life of Sibyl Trimble, a young girl who believes she holds the promise of a future generation, at least that is what her father reminds her. She is as actively involved in politics and the outcomes of the country as it begins to enter 1930's with the threats to the economy from job losses to bank closures. Farmers are losing their farms as banks and the government foreclose on them instead of finding a way to help them stay afloat in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

It is advantageous for the Trimble family because they are not impacted like others in the city as they are part of the affluent, and while Sibyl struggles to figure out what her purpose in trying to help will play, her father and mother believe a suitable match to someone who can provide a financial future is the way to go. But James is not the answer to love or what Sibyl defines love truly is. She has a brief moment with a blue-eyed hobo in a train station that gives her a glimpse into what love at first sight might look like, but she knows that is the one promise she can't break to her father. To settle for love instead of wealth and security.

But God has much different plans and He creates a way for Sibyl to gain the insight into what her father's life truly looks like when the facade is removed and she can see him for what he truly is. A man consumed by greed and power, and it begins to divide even her own family beginning with her grandparents. Her younger sister winds up pregnant but is overlooked in her indiscretion as her family believed that would be her lot in life, but when it happens to Sibyl things are cast into a much different light and the future her father had planned begins to crumble one stone at a time.

I received A Promise to Break by Kathryn Spurgeon compliments of Memory House Publishing for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation, aside from a free copy of this novel in exchange for my unbiased personal opinion of the novel. This is such a two-sided look at what life must have been like for people living through the Great Depression as some benefited from it, while others lost everything they had including their lives when hope ran out. For Sibyl is shows her that God has always had a plan and purpose for her life even though it was not the one she thought it would be, and it always turns out to be better than what we hope. For me, this one rates a 4.5 out of 5 stars in my opinion and this story was based on the life of Kathryn's grandparents which we see glimpses of in the Author's Note section at the conclusion of this novel.

For more information about A Promise to Break, Kathryn Spurgeon or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

A Promise to Break by Kathryn Spurgeon

You can find Kathryn Spurgeon on her blog to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

The Sweetest Rain - Giveaway and Review

For me, historical novels don't have to be a perfect match to something that has happened in history. I am not one of those fact checkers who are more concerned with the accuracy of the novel that the story itself. For me, if I can get so lost in the novel that I forget about time or that I feel like I can really see this happening in my mind, for me, that is a successful author and novel. In this case, that honor goes to Myra Johnson in her novel The Sweetest Rain. I am so thrilled I got the opportunity to review this one because as I have read in my history books quite a bit about the Great Depression but also the Dust Bowl. Living in California and suffering under some of the effects of the drought, it made me really want to know what a family might endure in the 1930's dealing with the effects of both of these issues.

In The Sweetest Rain, the first in the Flowers of Eden Series, we meet Bryony Linwood, who is struggling to help her grandfather and two younger sisters, Rose and Larkspur, to bring in what remains of their cotton crop. Like most tenant farmers, they are responsible to pay for the right to farm the land with a portion or share of their crops to the plantation owners, in this case, the Heath family. After another horrible year with dealing with the drought in Eden, Arkansas, it looks as if they will have to find another source of income if they want to keep food on the table. Bryony insists in pleading her case before Mr. Heath in hopes that he might give them more time to pay their rent. But another opportunity presents itself, when the plantation has need for another maid and if Bryony is obliged to work for the Heath's, he will deduct her earnings from what her grandfather owes him.

She just didn't expect to find love within the confines of the Heath plantation. Michael Heath is still recovering from the effects of mustard gas he was exposed to while fighting in the war as well as PTSD, or shell shock as it was known then. He finds solace in the botanical sketches he has been doing in his sketchbook and shares them with his mother, who is suffering from the early onset of Alzheimer's. It's the caring concern that Bryony shows for his mother by reading to her from one of the many books in the home, to taking walks in the garden that helps ease some of her symptoms but one thing is certain, that the love that is developing between the two is one thing his father will not tolerate or stand for. He has already cast out his daughter when she fell in love with the hired help and wound up pregnant. There is nothing Mr. Heath will not let stand in his way, even if it means doing the same to Bryony and her family as well.

I received The Sweetest Rain by Myra Johnson compliments of Franciscan Media for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review, aside from a free copy of the book, the opinions contained here are strictly my own personal ones. I love how well this message of redemption and hope comes across in this novel. It highlights how some families would have to band together in tough times to make ends meet. It also shows what keeps families together and what drives them apart as well as what each of them has to do to survive during the most difficult of circumstances. I can't wait to read more about this amazing and resilient Linwood family in the very near future. For me, this one rates a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about The Sweetest Rain, Myra Johnson or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Sweetest Rain by Myra Johnson

You can find Myra Johnson on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on The Sweetest Rain, please visit Franciscan Media's website.

Now for the amazing part. Thanks to the generosity of Franciscan Media, they are offering a giveaway copy of this novel to one lucky follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart. Here are your guidelines for entering:

1.  "Like" my Facebook page, Reviews From The Heart. 

2. Not a Facebook user, no problem, make sure you are a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart.

3. Be a resident of the U.S. No P. O. Boxes please.

4. Leave me a comment below telling me why you'd love to win a copy of this novel. Don't forget to include your email address so I can contact you if you're the lucky winner. You can even use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.

I will notify the winner of the giveaway by email once it ends on October 16th, so be sure to enter. You can enter as many times as you want.

The Sweetest Thing

Anne "Perri" Singleton's world is defined by the security of family, the camaraderie of friends at an exclusive Atlanta girls' school, for an enviable social life. She isn't looking for new friends when Mary Dobbs Dillard arrives from Chicago. Besides, "Dobbs," the passionate and fiercely individualistic daughter of an itinerant minster, is her opposite in every way.

But just as the Great Depression collides disastrously with Perri's well-ordered life, friendship blossoms - a friendship that will be tested by jealousy, betrayal, and family secrets....

With her endearing characters and poignant storytelling, Atlanta native Elizabeth Musser vividly re-creates the charm of her beloved city amid the poverty and plenty that shaped the 1930's in the latest novel The Sweetest Thing.

I received the book The Sweetest Thing compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and was transported back to the time of the Great Depression through the remarkable storytelling of Elizabeth Musser. It's hard to imagine just how difficult it was for some families to weather the storm of not knowing if things would right themselves once again when President Roosevelt took office. Whether banks would reopen again, whether their would be enough food to feed their families at night, and how some would get through a day.

I didn't realize how many people committed suicide even though that very same thing happened here in 2008 when our own financial upheaval occurred in the banking world. We get to share in the close friendship of Perri and Dobbs and see how each of them will help get them through this storm. Perri is the daughter of a wealthy family who doesn't seem concerned with the stock market fall out until it affects her father, while Dobbs comes from a poor family whose goal is to provide for a meal for her family at the end of the day. This one rates a 5 out of 5 stars!

Here's even more great information about the book, the author and even a first chapter glimpse.

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Sweetest Thing • Bethany House (June 1, 2011) by Elizabeth Musser



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elizabeth Musser, an Atlanta native, studied English and French literature at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. While at Vanderbilt, I had the opportunity to spend a semester in Aix-en-Provence,



France. During her Senior year at Vanderbilt, she attended a five-day missions conference for students and discovered an amazing thing: God had missionaries in France, and she felt God calling her there. After graduation, she spent eight months training for the mission field in Chicago, Illinois and then two years serving in a tiny Protestant church in Eastern France where she met her future husband.



Elizabeth lives in southern France with her husband and their two sons. She find her work as a mother, wife, author and missionary filled with challenges and chances to see God’s hand at work daily in her life. Inspiration for her novels come both from her experiences growing up in Atlanta as well as through the people she meets in her work in France. Many conversations within her novels are inspired from real-life conversations with skeptics and seekers alike.



Her acclaimed novel, The Swan House, was a Book Sense bestseller list in the Southeast and was selected as one of the top Christian books for 2001 by Amazon's editors. Searching for Eternity is her sixth novel.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Compelling Southern Novel Explores Atlanta Society in the 1930s.



The Singleton family’s fortunes seem unaffected by the Great Depression, and Perri—along with the other girls at Atlanta’s elite Washington Seminary—lives a life of tea dances with college boys and matinees at the cinema. When tragedy strikes, Perri is confronted with a world far different from the one she has always known.



At the insistence of her parents, Mary ‘Dobbs’ Dillard, the daughter of an itinerant preacher, is sent from inner-city Chicago to live with her aunt and attend Washington Seminary. Dobbs, passionate, fiercely individualistic and deeply religious, enters Washington Seminary as a bull in a china shop and shocks the girls with her frank talk about poverty and her stories of revival on the road. Her arrival intersects at the point of Perri’s ultimate crisis, and the tragedy forges an unlikely friendship.



The Sweetest Thing tells the story of two remarkable young women—opposites in every way—fighting for the same goal: surviving tumultuous change. Just as the Great Depression collides disastrously with Perri's well-ordered life, friendship blossoms--a friendship that will be tested by jealousy, betrayal, and family secrets...



If you would like to read the first chapter of The Sweetest Thing, go HERE.