~ FRIDAY FICTION FEATURE SONG OF SOURWOOD MOUNTAIN ~

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~ FRIDAY FICTION FEATURE ~--  'THE SONG OF SOURWOOD MOUNTAIN'  -- AUTHOR ANN H. GABHART 
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ABOUT THE BOOK:

For nearly twenty years, readers have been coming to bestsellingauthor Ann H. Gabhart for thought-provoking and heartwarming stories set infascinating times and places, and her newest offering, The Song of Sourwood Mountain,is no exception. This gripping tale about having the courage to follow theLord’s leading (even when it seems he is leading us down strange andunpredictable paths) has everything Gabhart’s fans expect: a memorable setting,a realistic conflict, and complex characters you love to root for. . . . .

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The doors she thoughtwere closed forever are starting to open up . . . just a crack

Though the century began with such promise, it is 1910 when Mira Dean's hopesof being a wife and mother are dashed to pieces. Her fiancé dead fromtuberculosis, Mira resigns herself to being a spinster schoolteacher--untilGordon Covington shows up.
 
No longer the boy she knew from school, Gordon is now a preacher who is full ofsurprises. First, he asks Mira to come to Sourwood in Eastern Kentucky to teachat his mission school. Second, he asks her to marry him. Just like that.
 
With much trepidation, Mira steps out in faith into a life she never imagined,in a place filled with its own special challenges, to serve a people who justmight end up becoming the family she always yearned for.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

Ann H. Gabhart is the bestsellingauthor of many novels, including Inthe Shadow of the River, When the Meadow Blooms, Alonga Storied Trail, An Appalachian Summer, River toRedemption, These Healing Hills, and Angel Sister.She and her husband live on a farm a mile from where she was born in ruralKentucky. Ann enjoys discovering the everyday wonders of nature while hiking inher farm's fields and woods with her grandchildren and her dogs, Frankie andMarley. Learn more at AnnHGabhart.com

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Interview with Author Ann H. Gabhart--The Song of Sourwood Mountain:

 

Question:  Can you please provide a brief summary ofyour novel The Song of Sourwood Mountain?

 

Author's Response:  Mira Dean’s dreams ofmarriage and motherhood seemed lost after the man she loved and planned tomarry died of tuberculosis. Five years later, Mira is resigned to her life as aspinster schoolteacher until Gordon Covington shows up in town with anaudacious marriage proposal. Following him to the mountains takes courage, butan even bigger challenge is being a proper wife to Gordon. The two taketentative steps toward learning about each other and sharing the mission ofhelping the people in Sourwood. Mira will see that doors she thought closedforever may be opening after all.

 

Question:Your novels take place largely in Kentucky. Can you tell us why that settingresonates so much with you as a writer?

 

Author's Response:  I was born in Kentucky and havealways lived in Kentucky. I feel as though I know the people here, especiallythose who live in rural areas and small towns. Most of my stories have thatkind of setting. I also have access to historical sites and a wealth ofresearch materials that offer inspiration to my stories. I understand the loveof one’s homeplace and its land, which helps me as I follow my characters ontheir journeys. I understand how roots can go deep. I have the same kind ofroots and feeling for the land here on my country farm. I truly love Kentuckyand Kentucky people, both past and present. The people of Appalachia have oftenbeen seen as backward or even immoral.

 

Question:  How do you portray them in thisnovel?

 

Author's Response:  Appalachian people areindependent, proud, and strong. They are very family oriented and can beclannish if they feel they or their family have been wronged. Due to theirisolation, they lacked the opportunities for formal education, good medicalcare, and ways to make a living other than subsistence farming or coal mining.I try to portray my characters in ways that readers can relate to. They may notalways be book smart, but they are often very wise about nature and life. Ilike seeing my characters in The Song of Sourwood Mountain as a community andshowing how they relate to one another. The early twentieth century was such ahopeful time.

 

Question:  What do you hope readers willgain from reading The Song of Sourwood Mountain?

 

Author's Response:  I always want readers to be gladthey picked up one of my books and took a journey with my characters. With TheSong of Sourwood Mountain, I hope they will invite my characters intotheir hearts as I did. I hope they will identify with the spiritual challengesGordon faces and cheer on Mira as she steps out in faith to find a new future.I hope they will love my young character Ada June as much as I did while Ishared her story. Last of all, I hope that something in my characters’ faithjourneys will resonate with them and make their own faith stronger. 

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 MY REVIEW:
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  An outstanding historical romance set in Appalachia in 1910 . . .


Author Ann H. Gabhart has gifted readers with another outstanding Christian historical romance set in the heart of the Kentucky Appalachian Mountains in the early twentieth century.


The multi-dimensional characters, human and canine, provide a rich foundation for this engaging plot. The story begins in the city of Louisville, Kentucky, when Preacher Gordon Covington arrives in town to preach and to ask for support for his mission school in Sourwood in Eastern Kentucky and to hire a school teacher.


He has current schoolteacher Mira Dean in mind for the position of the teacher to the children in the community in a one-room schoolhouse that is still under construction. He and Mira were schoolmates as children in Louisville. To avoid perceived improprieties of the members of the Sourwood community, Gordon proposes marriage to Mira at the same time he offers her the teaching job.


Doubt and apprehension send Mira's stable life into a tizzy after she is dismissed from her job in Louisville along with losing her rental rooms in the home of the town's spinster, Miss Ophelia. After receiving advice from her landlord, Mira decides to take a great leap of faith and accept Gordon's two-part proposal.


The love story between Mira and Gordon is heartwarming and realistic as both of them make every effort to build a life together by creating a nurturing home for two foster daughters. Mira and Gordon's relationship is based on their shared faith and respect for each other. They both demonstrate a sincere desire to minister to the families in this small mountain community.


Ada June, an orphaned ten-year-old girl who the Covingtons foster in their small home and her dog Bo quickly grew to become my favorite characters because of their unique relationship with each other and because of Ada June's exceptional gift of sharing her caring, compassion to animals and people.


'The Song of Sourwood Mountain' is a story that will remain in my heart and mind for a long time because the characters and the events in the story touched something deep inside me much like three other books from my past that I feel the same way about: 'Christy' by Catherine Marshall, 'The Joy Luck Club' by Amy Tan, and the children's picture book 'The Story of Holly and Ivy.'


This book is completely clean in language and content, and the faith thread is tightly woven into the entire story. I highly recommend this book to fans of Christian Fiction, Christian Romance, and Christian Historical Fiction.


I received a copy of this book from the publisher through their Revell Reads Blogger Program. All of my thoughts and opinions shared here are solely my own.

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