Helpful Score: 1
After an accident that kills her father, 12-year old Lou - along her brother Oz and and their invalid mother - go to live with her namesake and great-grandmother Louisa May Cardinal on a farm in the mountains of Virginia. There, they learn the value of family, and friends and hard work as they eke a living out of the soil and grow to love the mountains. But just when it seems their life is getting settled again, it is threatened by an outside force that thinks to take advantage of a tragedy in the family. The book ends in a nail-biting trial that will determine the fate of the children and the farm.
David Baldacci normally writes thrillers and bestsellers, so this novel set in early 1940's Virginia Appalacian mountains is a bit of a departure for him. But his family is from this area of Virginia, so it's a setting near and dear to his heart - and this comes through loud and clear in the novel.
This book reminded me a lot of To Kill a Mockingbird. But there are many plot elements in common - the Southern setting, the two siblings, the older and wiser relative, the trial, the practical lawyer standing on the side of justice, and the overall tone of the book are all similar. And it's not a bad thing at all to be compared to such a classic novel. but be assured that the plot of this book is different and stands by itself very well. Although I've been to the Appalachians, it's been a while and this book made me want to go again so that I can take in their beauty once more and appreciate the strength of the people who live there.
This book probably won't become a classic, but it's a great novel and I highly recommend it.
David Baldacci normally writes thrillers and bestsellers, so this novel set in early 1940's Virginia Appalacian mountains is a bit of a departure for him. But his family is from this area of Virginia, so it's a setting near and dear to his heart - and this comes through loud and clear in the novel.
This book reminded me a lot of To Kill a Mockingbird. But there are many plot elements in common - the Southern setting, the two siblings, the older and wiser relative, the trial, the practical lawyer standing on the side of justice, and the overall tone of the book are all similar. And it's not a bad thing at all to be compared to such a classic novel. but be assured that the plot of this book is different and stands by itself very well. Although I've been to the Appalachians, it's been a while and this book made me want to go again so that I can take in their beauty once more and appreciate the strength of the people who live there.
This book probably won't become a classic, but it's a great novel and I highly recommend it.
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