Saturday, January 16, 2021

WONDERLAND CREEK by Lynn Austin, Reviewed by Paula Shreckhise


“If my life were a book, no one would read it. People would say it was too boring, too predictable. A story told a million times. But I was perfectly content with my life-that is, until the pages of my story were ripped out before I had a chance to live happily ever after.”

Alice Ripley is absorbed in books in her job as a librarian in a good sized town in Illinois. After losing her job and boyfriend, she decides to hand deliver the books she has collected to a tiny hamlet in Kentucky. She likens her life to a novel but is out of her element when she arrives in Acorn, Kentucky along Wonderland Creek.
I loved Alice with her spunk and imagination. “I felt like I had been pushed onto the stage in the middle of a very bad play and did not know any of my lines. I would have run for the hills if I knew which hills to tun to.”

Alice meets Librarian Mac who has secrets. Lillie was a favorite character. She is one hundred years old, a former slave and knows natural healing arts. Lillie has raised Mac from a baby. She is very wise and an outspoken Christian. Alice learns so much from Lillie and as a horseback Librarian in Appalachia.

This was such a great story. I was sorry to leave the folks in Acorn behind.

Wonderland Creek is a gem of a tale with references to all things bookish. The characters are real and live their faith with the purpose to love their neighbors and try to right injustices.

Every Lynn Austin book I have read is well written and unveils spiritual truths. I have enjoyed every on of them.
*I read a copy of this book as part of the Amazon Prime Reading program. All opinions are my own.*I give this 5 stars and a strong faith thread.
 
currently a free read for Amazon Prime Members
 
BackCover Blurb:
Lynn Austin Will Delight Readers with Her Winsome Heroine

Alice Grace Ripley lives in a dream world, her nose stuck in a book. But happily-ever-after life she's planned on suddenly falls apart when her boyfriend, Gordon, breaks up with her, accusing her of living in a world of fiction instead of the real world. Then to top it off, Alice loses her beloved job at the library because of cutbacks due to the Great Depression.

Fleeing small-town gossip, Alice heads to the mountains of eastern Kentucky to deliver five boxes of donated books to the library in the tiny coal-mining village of Acorn. Dropped off by her relatives, Alice volunteers to stay for two weeks to help the librarian, Leslie McDougal.

But the librarian turns out to be far different than she anticipated--not to mention the four lady librarians who travel to the remote homes to deliver the much-desired books. While Alice is trapped in Acorn against her will, she soon finds that real-life adventure and mystery--and especially romance--are far better than her humble dreams could have imagined.
 
Bethany House October 2011
Available in digital ebook and paperback, hardcover and audiobook:
 

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