This book will take you to a place where things are truly hard yet also simple. Hard work for everyone involved yet the beauty is so great you will fall deeply in love with the time and place. Things grow then die. It’s the circle of life truly.
Cora and Nettie Mae are neighbors. Cora has four children while. Nettie Mae has only one. They are not friends at all. Actually Nettie Mae despises Cora and with good reason. But as they decide that the only way to survive the winter is for them to merge families they get to know each other in different lights. In small ways. In ways that they both suffer yet thrive. From their families they learn how to get along. How to work together for the good of each and for the good of their land. With no husband around to help they rely on each other’s oldest children, Clyde, Nettie Mae’s son and Beulah, Cora’s daughter. They have to grow up on the fast time during these hard times and make the best of what life has granted them. Cora has three other smaller children while Nettie Mae only has the one son. She lost other children along the way and it made her hard. She hardened her heart in many ways because of what life dealt her. But through the laughter of children maybe she can learn to open up a bit. Even if it’s just a tiny bit.
This book is told from mainly Beulah’s POV but also from Clyde, Nettie Mae and Cora. Each has their own story or way of thinking. Beulah is a very sweet young girl of just thirteen who knows and loves the land in a way that no one can understand. She has a way about her that scares Nettie Mae but ultimately eases some of Nettie Mae’s harshness too. This young girl will get under your skin. She will make you believe in things you never thought about before. She just has a special way of telling things, of seeing things, of hearing things that no one else can. She can explain these things in such detail and liveliness that you can truly feel it. You will love this girl truly. Clyde is a young man who has to grow up quickly after his father’s death. He has to take on the running of no only his farm but of the Bemis’s farm also. He’s a hard worker and he never complains. He just does what he has to do. When him and Beulah start working together she helps him see things that he never saw. Helps him do the things that he finds very hard to do. Like when it’s time to kill the lambs for the meat they will all have to have to survive the winter. She has a way with all living creatures and with Clyde by her side they can do anything it seems. These to are a force of their own and no one will stop them from succeeding.
This is the story of two families who have to survive a cold harsh winter that came way to soon. They have to get along in one home. Under one roof that is filled with some very tense moments. These two families will become a part of you. The land will become a part of you. You can feel the cold. The animals. The crops. The things these families endure. From hard times to happy times you can feel to your bones. This is a beautifully written book that will make you believe in a happy ever after and it’s by far not a fairytale. But a life of hardships, friendships, love both young and old. Of life on a farm. From death to new life. It will make you cry in places and feel full in others. I had so many feelings reading this book that it’s hard to describe. Just know you will feel it all if you give it a chance. It’s just a beautiful book. One that you will fall in love with. One that is so hard to put down for anything. It’s a story of hope when you thing all is lost.
I believe this is just about the most perfect book I have read in a very very long time. I felt it in my heart. The author’s notes at the end even made me cry. What a great author. I love cats to by the way!!
Thank you to #NetGalley, #Lakeunion and #AmazonPrime for this book. This is my complete and honest review.
It’s a huge 5 stars from me and so worth many many more. I highly recommend this book. I can’t say it enough. I highly recommend this book.
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