I had high expectations for The Heart of the Mountains since it's written by Pepper Basham, a talented author who writes authentically about Appalachian life from her personal experience. I was not disappointed; the novel has an incredibly strong sense of place in terms of natural geography and the beliefs, customs, and language of the mountain people.
Set in 1919 in the Blue Ridge Mountains, this is a story of contrasts. Jeb McAdams is a well-respected mountain man with a strong love of his family and an incredible talent for creating carvings, furniture, and homes from wood. Cora Taylor flees her familial home in England to escape an arranged marriage and reunite with her brother and uncle who live and serve in the area. The one thing they have in common is trauma (PTSD in modern terms) from their experiences while serving in World War I. Jeb and Cora meet in a very unique way, and their lives continually intertwine as Cora is shocked by many local customs and beliefs, but eventually she sees the beauty her brother described so vividly in his letters.
My favorite type of Christian romance is one with lots of "chaste steam", a term I use to describe romantic tension and longing without crossing a moral line. This story is overflowing with chaste steam, mostly between Cora and Jeb, but they weren't the only ones. It was so appropriate the author used the term "sparkin'" to describe physical attraction because sparks were flying all over these pages.
Ms. Basham does not shy away from difficult topics in this story; in addition to PTSD, her characters experience alcoholism, physical abuse, miscarriage, prostitution, racism, animal cruelty, and death. In fact, there's so much action packed into this 250-page novel, at times it felt overwhelming and unbelievable.
Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed The Heart of the Mountains and recommend it highly to readers who wish to immerse themselves in early 20th-century Appalachia in a story with strong faith elements.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review. All opinions are my own.
Set in 1919 in the Blue Ridge Mountains, this is a story of contrasts. Jeb McAdams is a well-respected mountain man with a strong love of his family and an incredible talent for creating carvings, furniture, and homes from wood. Cora Taylor flees her familial home in England to escape an arranged marriage and reunite with her brother and uncle who live and serve in the area. The one thing they have in common is trauma (PTSD in modern terms) from their experiences while serving in World War I. Jeb and Cora meet in a very unique way, and their lives continually intertwine as Cora is shocked by many local customs and beliefs, but eventually she sees the beauty her brother described so vividly in his letters.
My favorite type of Christian romance is one with lots of "chaste steam", a term I use to describe romantic tension and longing without crossing a moral line. This story is overflowing with chaste steam, mostly between Cora and Jeb, but they weren't the only ones. It was so appropriate the author used the term "sparkin'" to describe physical attraction because sparks were flying all over these pages.
Ms. Basham does not shy away from difficult topics in this story; in addition to PTSD, her characters experience alcoholism, physical abuse, miscarriage, prostitution, racism, animal cruelty, and death. In fact, there's so much action packed into this 250-page novel, at times it felt overwhelming and unbelievable.
Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed The Heart of the Mountains and recommend it highly to readers who wish to immerse themselves in early 20th-century Appalachia in a story with strong faith elements.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review. All opinions are my own.
