I love it when a novel grabs my attention from the very first sentence. Karen Barnett takes a peek into the lives of the people who populated the Smoky Mountains during the 1930s. The story revolves around Rosie, Lorna, and their lives in the mountains. But that's not all of the story--a parallel story involves Kieran and and her grandmother, Macauley, and a stone bird that had been carved by Kieran's great-great grandmother.
Kieran grew up in the foster care system and found her grandmother later in her life, after her grandmother had entered into the throes of dementia. The one thing that Granny Mac wants Kieran to find the stone bird that had been buried with her mother, because Kieran needs the connection to her family and her ancestry.
In writing this novel Karen tackles some hard issues. One of the characters, Lorna, is developmentally delayed, possibly starved of oxygen at birth. Rosie buried three babies, and from Karen's descriptions, the babies possibly died of Rh factor incompatibility. These are my speculations because medical science hadn't advanced to that point yet.
The culture of the mountain people adds to the richness of the plot Karen has woven. Secrets are unburied with the finding of more history of Granny Mac's family and only add to the poignancy of the story.
This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a carved stone bird family heirloom.
Kregel Publishing supplied the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
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