An Appalachian Summer

Ann H. Gabhart

Jun 2020 · Revell

About this eBook

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.

When Piper gets the opportunity to volunteer as a horseback Frontier Nursing courier in the Appalachian Mountains for the summer, she jumps at the chance to be something other than a dutiful daughter or a kept wife in a loveless marriage. The work is taxing, the scenery jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and the people she meets along the way open up a whole new world to her. The longer she stays, the more an advantageous marriage slips from her grasp. But something much more precious--true love--is drawing ever closer.

Bestselling author Ann H. Gabhart invites you into the storied hills of Eastern Kentucky to discover what happens when one intrepid young woman steps away from the restrictive past into a beautiful, wide-open future.

Ratings and reviews

An Appalachian Summer by Ann H. Gabhart is a pleasing historical, Christian novel. I thought it was well-written with interesting characters. Piper Danson is twenty years old and not ready to settle down. She would like some adventure. Piper hears Mary Breckinridge speak at a tea arranged by her Aunt Truda and immediately volunteers. Piper loves the mountains with its natural beauty and even enjoys the hard work. She learns a variety of new skills while making friends with her fellow couriers, the nurse midwives, patients, and the families that inhabit the area. I enjoyed the beautiful descriptions of the Appalachian Mountains the quirky people who lived in them. They residents do not take kindly to strangers especially governments types, but they love Mary Breckinridge and her workers. Piper is a woman finding her path in life. She is also given a chance to take God into her heart and discover love. Truda Danson was a delightful character. She was a woman ahead of her time. In today’s world, Truda would be running a large corporation. There was only one man who captured her interest and Truda never heard from him again their quick encounter at her debut ball. Jamie Russell has been Piper’s lifelong friend who never told her how he truly felt about her. When the Russell family lost their fortune, they decamped to Danville. Jamie finds his way to the mountains where he gathers information for articles he is writing for a paper. Can romance bloom in the mountains? Unfortunately, the course of true love is not a smooth one. There are a variety of secondary characters who include the other couriers, nurse midwives, a hardworking doctor, and Jamie’s opposition. I enjoyed reading An Appalachian Summer. A story about strong women, faith, hope, and love. An Appalachian Summer is a charming story that took me back in time among the people who live in the Appalachian Mountains.

About the author

Ann H. Gabhart is the bestselling author of several Shaker novels--The Refuge, The Outsider, The Believer, The Seeker, The Blessed, and The Gifted--as well as other historical novels, including Angel Sister, These Healing Hills, River to Redemption, and An Appalachian Summer. She and her husband live on a farm a mile from where she was born in rural Kentucky. Ann enjoys discovering the everyday wonders of nature while hiking in her farm's fields and woods with her grandchildren and her dogs, Frankie and Marley. Learn more at www.annhgabhart.com.