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BOOK REVIEW: Julia's Hope
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Click cover to purchase book |
by Laura V. Hilton Dancing Word Reviewer
Title: Julia's Hope Author: Leisha Kelly Publisher: Revell ISBN: 0-800-75820-X Genre: Inspirational/Historical/Women/Fiction
After the great market crash in the 1920’s, everyone was falling on desperate times. Julia Wortham and her husband, Samuel, aren’t the first ones to lose their home, jobs, everything, and be forced to live on the streets. Lured to leave Pennsylvania by promises of a job in southern Illinois, Samuel and Julia pack everything they own into three bags, and they and their children, Robert and Sarah, start walking.
As they walk, Julia dreams of a home lovelier than the one they lost. She fights the bitterness that threatens to overcome her as she realizes her husband took her inheritance and invested it in stock—stock that is now worthless. They could have had a home and money to live on if Samuel hadn’t made such a foolish mistake.
Occasionally, someone offers Samuel and Julia a ride, but rides are few and far between. And then Samuel finds out that the promised job is a hoax. Now they are in the middle of nowhere, with nowhere to go. What will happen to them? Will Julia get the home she dreams of? Will she even stay with Samuel?
Julia's Hope is the first book in the series. It is a well-written story, showing the overwhelming despair families must have felt when they realized they lost everything and must leave their homes and belongings. I felt the pain that Julia knew when she thought about all the money she had and lost through the foolishness of her husband, but I also felt Samuel’s worry that Julia would leave him. The characters are very well developed.
History lovers everywhere will love Julia's Hope. Set around
Mount Vernon, Illinois, readers familiar with that area will also be able
to visualize the scenery. I travel through Mount Vernon several times a
year and easily recognized the area through the descriptions. Pick up
Julia's Hope today. |
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