Lauraine Snelling has such a way with writing historical fiction and her collaboration with Kiersti Giron in the Leah's Garden series is a surprising and refreshing addition to the genre.
In the previous novel in the series, the sisters are moving westward as a real need to get away from a situation their brother got them into. This novel opens a year later and the sisters have settled into their homestead. Forsythia is settled into her marriage with the doctor and her new family acquired on the way to Nebraska. Delphinium (Del) is getting ready for a new school year (without a school house), Larkspur (Lark) and Lilac are preparing to build a boarding house, and their brother, Anders, comes for a visit and to help get the boarding house off the ground. Anders brought a friend with him who was an engineering student before the war and knew how to design buildings. The sisters hire RJ (Anders' friend) to design the boarding house and oversee its being built. Throughout the time taken to build the boarding house and later the school house, the sisters become close to RJ, but Del becomes especially close.
There are some pleasant surprises throughout this book. While Lark is the oldest sister, Del often appears to be the eldest, at least to my way of thinking. All of the sisters get along so well and complement each others strengths. They work well together and build one another up in ways not often seen in families or friend-groups.
The authors do tackle some tough problems and there is enough conflict within the plot to keep the reader engaged and involved in the story. I can't wait to see whose story is next and what challenges the sisters will face in the next novel.
Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a teacher who cares about her students as much as what they learn.
Bethany House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
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