This story begins as Clay Selby, a missionary's son, and his stepsister, Vivian, are enroute from Oklahoma to Alaska to begin a church and school among the Athapascan Indians in 1898. They meet Lizzie Dawson, a young woman who lives in a cabin near the Indian village. They become friends and then are told by the tribal leaders they are to choose to remain in their village by separating themselves from Lizzie who is set apart from the tribe because of her mixed heritage. Vivian and Lizzie find that they have a lot in common. They both are on a journey of reconciliation. Clay busies himself with the construction of the mission building and finds himself separated from both the people he has come to live among and from his heart's longing to be included with Lizzie's friendship.
This is a story of unspoken generational misunderstandings. The characters are honoring and supportive of their beliefs. Will they be able to come together to remedy losses they have already experienced?
This story is very well written and engaging. It is a story of trust and triumph; of longing to belong and finding a whisper of peace.
Available in eBook format: Kindle Edition and NOOK Book; Hardcover and Paperback.
I received a copy of this book free from Bethany House Publishers for this review in my own words.
Do you wish an ancestor had left a legacy for you to discover?
Journaling is so valuable! Be it in scrapbooks with drawings, a photo
album with names beneath the photos!, or letters left behind, truth is
unveiled for us. Are we tied to the past, struggling, or freed by it?
Susan Meissner's novel "A Sound Among the Trees" reveals choices made by
generations living within stately Holly Oak.
Historical Fiction
A Sound Among the Trees is an intricately woven story of generations
within Holly Oak, a southern manor home. Adelaide is an elderly
grandmother who has mourned the passing of her granddaughter, Sara, and
the absence of her daughter, Caroline, Sara's mother. Her
widowed grandson-in-law, Carson, has brought his new bride, Marielle, to Holly
Oak, his home with his two children and Adelaide.
A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner - Book Trailer
Marielle meets older women who share the view of a haunted Holly Oak
robbing the women for generations within its walls. Evidences of a
sheltering Holly Oak begin to unravel these stories, as Marielle begins her journey into the ancestral lines cloaked within Holly Oak. This is a story
rich in heritage and hope. Truth triumphs for the family over the rumors about matriarch Susannah.
Here is a book that is going to surprise you! It is not all as it
seems. Chapter Twenty-Three: "Marielle eased her body down the wooden
steps, her sodden sneakers turning brown with subterranean dirt and
dust." I was upstairs reading, reading, reading with our 15-year-old cat
snoozing
on my lap, when I turned the page and read the above. Realizing this is
going to be a longer night! I came downstairs to get a drink of water
while my husband innocently is watching a football game. Intrigue!
There
are five parts to this book: The Garden; The Parlor; The Studio; The
Cellar; and Holly Oak. Each is vital in revealing a sound among the
trees. This is the second book by this author that I have read, becoming
newly acquainted with her historical fiction while reading "Lady in
Waiting." I have thoroughly enjoyed the unexpected turn stumbled upon as
if by accident, at the turning of each page. No preconceived notions
here! For a fresh and appealing storyline, venture within and enjoy
Susan Meissner's novels. I will be reading "A Sound Among the Trees" a
second time! I don't want to miss any of it!
Besides eBooks and Print, this book is also available as an unabridged Audiobook download.
This book was sent to me free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for my own opinion review. http://www.BloggingForBooks.org
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