Ann H. Gabhart se ha dedicado a escribir desde su infancia en una granja de Kentucky. Sus obras a menudo se ambientan en el pasado, como sus populares libros sobre los Shakers, ambientados en el pueblo ficticio de Harmony Hill en el siglo XIX, o historias de los años 60 en la serie Heart of Hollyhill. Gabhart captura magistralmente la atmósfera de la América de los pueblos pequeños, adentrándose a menudo en temas de familia y comunidad a través de diferentes períodos históricos. Su habilidad para transportar a los lectores al pasado con personajes convincentes y tramas atractivas es la razón por la que su obra es tan querida.
In 1933 Louisville, Kentucky, even the ongoing economic depression cannot keep Piper Danson's parents from insisting on a debut party. After all, their fortune came through the market crash intact, and they've picked out the perfect suitor for their daughter. Braxton Crandall can give her the kind of life she's used to. The only problem? This is not the man -- or the life -- she really wants.
If any place on God's earth was designed to help one heal, it is Meadowland. Surely here, at her brother-in-law's Kentucky farm, Rose and her daughters can recover from the events of the recent past--the loss of her husband during the 1918 influenza epidemic, her struggle with tuberculosis that required a stay at a sanatorium, and her girls' experience in an orphanage during her illness. At Meadowland, hope blooms as their past troubles become rich soil in which their faith can grow. Dirk Meadows may have opened his home to his late brother's widow and her girls, but he keeps his heart tightly closed. The roots of his pain run deep, and the evidence of it is written across his face. Badly scarred by a fire and abandoned by the woman he loved, Dirk fiercely guards his heart from being hurt again. But it may be that his visitors will bring light back into his world and unlock the secret to true healing. Bestselling author Ann H. Gabhart explores the tender places within the human heart in this character-driven story of trusting God to turn our burdens into something beautiful.
Kentucky packhorse librarian Tansy Calhoun doesn't mind the rough trails and long hours as she serves her mountain community during the Great Depression. Even the rough people--like ornery Perdita Sweet--have their charms. But can love bloom in such rocky soil?
In 1881, Jacci Reed is only five years old when a man attempts to kidnap her from the steamboat her mother, Irena, works on. Badly wounded during the confrontation, Irena takes Jacci aboard the Kingston Floating Palace, a showboat tied up beside them. There, Jacci's actor grandfather tends to her mother and Jacci gets a first taste of the life she will come to lead.Fifteen years later, Jacci is an actress aboard the Kingston Floating Palace, and largely contented with her adopted family of actors, singers, and dancers. Especially Gabe, who has always supported her, and the gruff grandfather she has come to know and love. Jacci's mother has been gone for years, but the memory of the altercation that ultimately took her life--and the cryptic things Jacci has overheard about her past--is always there, lurking in the back of her mind.When someone on the showboat tries to kill Jacci, it's clear her questions demand answers. But secrets have a way of staying in the shadows, and the answers she craves will not come easily. Gabe only hopes they come in time for him and Jacci to have a future together.
Kentucky 1964: Im beschaulichen Hollyhill weht nach dem Tornado ein anderer Wind. Wes ist schwer verletzt, Jocie hat mit Schuldgefühlen zu kämpfen und David weiß vor lauter Herausforderungen nicht mehr, wo ihm der Kopf steht. Ausgerechnet jetzt wird ihm endlich klar, was er für Leigh empfindet. Doch ihm bleibt einfach keine Zeit, ihr den Hof zu machen. Noch mehr zu tun gibt es für Pastor David, als eine schwarze Familie in die Gegend zieht. Dass die Hearndons eine eigene Farm bewirtschaften und als Zeichen der Hoffnung Apfelbäume anpflanzen wollen, erhitzt die Gemüter. Sind die Menschen in Hollyhill etwa nicht so tolerant, wie David immer dachte?
Kentucky 1964. Es ist ein bunter Haufen, der da im beschaulichen Hollyhill zusammenwohnt. Vater David ist der Herausgeber der örtlichen Zeitung, träumt aber von einer Anstellung als Pastor. Seine 13-jährige Tochter Jocie wünscht sich nichts sehnlicher als einen Hund und dass ihre Schwester, die sie seit sieben Jahren nicht mehr gesehen hat, in den Schoß der Familie zurückkehrt. Die exzentrische Tante Love wird mit ihren 78 Jahren zunehmend vergesslicher, wirft permanent mit Bibelversen um sich und hütet ein dunkles Geheimnis. Als Jocies Gebete erhört werden und ihnen nicht nur ein Hund zuläuft, sondern auch ihre Schwester Tabitha plötzlich vor der Tür steht, überschlagen sich die Ereignisse.