A Strand of Hope
Librarians of Willow Hollow #1
by Amanda Tero
173 pages // published in 2020 // Christian historical fiction
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Lena Davis is the daughter her mom never wanted.
But she survived. Through stories. Because books didn’t judge. Books weren’t angry she was alive. Books never expected her to be anything but who she was.
As she grows up, her beloved library becomes her true home.
So when the library is designated part of President Roosevelt’s Packhorse Library Project, Lena is determined to get the job of bringing books to highlanders, believing she’ll finally be free of her mom forever.
But earning the trust of highlanders is harder than she imagined, and her passion for books might not be enough to free her from her chains.
Lena Davis is the daughter her mom never wanted.
But she survived. Through stories. Because books didn’t judge. Books weren’t angry she was alive. Books never expected her to be anything but who she was.
As she grows up, her beloved library becomes her true home.
So when the library is designated part of President Roosevelt’s Packhorse Library Project, Lena is determined to get the job of bringing books to highlanders, believing she’ll finally be free of her mom forever.
But earning the trust of highlanders is harder than she imagined, and her passion for books might not be enough to free her from her chains.
15-year-old Lena Davis is a true book lover. She loves lots of good, old-fashioned books like Little Women and Pride and Prejudice. She spends all of her extra time at Willow Hollow's library, or somewhere that she can fit in a few good chapters, like a few moments in the evenings before it gets too dark.
In Willow Hollow, Kentucky, sits the Davis's small shack of a house, in 1936. Lena's mom stays drunk on the neighbor's moonshine, and acts abusively towards her daughter, even though they are all each other has in the whole world.
When a new type of job opens at the library, Lena can't believe her ears. A job where she could be paid to deliver books to the Appalachian mountainfolk? It's all a part of President Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration. Horseback librarians will trek across the mountain to present their precious cargo to the sparse population. Not all who live on the mountain are of a welcoming variety to strangers though.
Lena's home life with her embittered mom is so poignant, so heartbreaking to watch the arguments unfold. Many times in this story, I had tears in my eyes for what Lena has to put herself through to turn the other cheek. She keeps her mom's cruel words and hurtful habits a secret from the townspeople. Maybe the closest neighbors know about it some, if they ever hear the angry shouting.
While it's a fairly clean read, it does mention multiple times about Lena being born out of wedlock, and mentions alcoholism and sharp verbal (and sometimes physical) abuse.
Suitable for: 13 and up - Adults
I like that this book isn't written to be a romance, like most of the young adult and/or women's fiction that is available on the market.
Reading this book filled me with an inspirational message of hope for the future.
I am so excited to read the other books in this series.
Favorite lines:
"Goodness, she had been wandering in the wilderness forty years already, and her sixteenth birthday wasn't even here."
"Once, Pastor Stuart had likened following God like a horse following its master. A good horse wouldn't question its rider’s commands but heed immediately."
~~~ Books #2, 3, & 4 will be released during August & September! ~~~
P.S. Like and vote for this review on Goodreads and Amazon (soon!).
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