An Appalachian Summer by Ann H. Gabhart

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ABOUT THE BOOK

In 1933, most people are focused on the Great Depression but all Piper Danson can think about is how to get out of being a debutante and marrying Braxton Crandall. In an act of defiance, Piper volunteers as a frontier nursing courier in the Appalachian Mountains where adventure awaits.

MY THOUGHTS.....

Ann H. Gabhart shares another story that centers around The Frontier Nursing Service and its founder, Mary Breckinridge, but this time her heroine is a young woman who leaves her Louisville home for a summer job in Hyden, Kentucky. Piper Danson has known a life of wealth and luxury but her family has experienced the effects of the Great Depression and her parents tell her that they've found a man with money that she can marry. Piper, however, wants more! She wants to feel useful, she longs to make a difference, and she yearns for true love, so accepting a job as a courier for the Frontier Nursing Service in the summer of 1933 may be just what she's looking for. But can she ride a horse through the mountains, muck out horse stalls, and even help deliver babies? What else will Piper encounter during her summer in Appalachia Kentucky?

Piper Danson is a wonderful character and I admired her determination to help others and the special bond that she shared with her Aunt Truda. When her long-time friend Jamie Russell showed up to do a series of newspaper articles on Mrs. Breckinridge and her nurses, I fully understood why he had been Piper's 'teenage dream'. It is, however, Gabhart's description of the mountains and the people who lived there that grabbed my heart. Those strong, hardworking people greatly needed the medical care provided by the Frontier Nursing Service but they were proud people who didn't readily accept help or easily give their trust to strangers. Watching Piper and the others earn that trust was truly heartwarming and inspiring and it reminded me that all of us need to do more to serve others.

Set in my home state of Kentucky, and written by a favorite Kentucky author, An Appalachian Summer offers not one, but two, romances and a wonderful message of faith. I highly recommend this book to all who enjoy historical Christian romance.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. There was no obligation to write a favorable review. These are my own thoughts.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ann H. Gabhart grew up on a farm in Kentucky. By the time she was ten she knew she wanted to be a writer. She's published over twenty novels. She and her husband have three children and nine grandchildren and she still lives on a farm not far from where she grew up. She loves playing with her grandkids, walking with her dog, reading and, of course, writing. Her Shaker books, set in her fictional Shaker village of Harmony Hill in the 1800's, are popular with readers. The Outsider was a Christian Fiction Book Award Finalist in 2009. Her Heart of Hollyhill books are Small Town, America books set in the 1960's. Angel Sister, a Rosey Corner book set during the Great Depression, will be followed by Small Town Girl. She has also written two books about Mary Breckinridge and the Frontier Nursing Service: These Healing Hills and An Appalachian Summer. 

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