By Kelly Bridgewater
Family Secrets Spill One Conversation at a Time
Visit historic American landmarks through the Doors to the Past series. History and today collide in stories full of mystery, intrigue, faith, and romance.
De Smet, South Dakota—1890
Young women growing up in DeSmet live by two rules: don’t go out in a snowstorm and don’t give your heart to Cap Garland. Young Mariah Patterson only managed to obey one. Orphaned and having devoted her youth to scrapping out a life with her brother Charles, Mariah finds herself with no interesting suitors or means of support. Throwing caution to the wind, she seizes an opportunity to lay her feelings at Cap’s feet, even though she knows Cap sees the world through the torch he carries for Laura Ingalls. Mariah is certain her love for Cap will be strong enough to break both bonds, and she’s willing to risk everything to prove it.
De Smet, South Dakota—1974
Trixie Gowan is the fourth generation of living
Gowan women residing in the sprawling farmhouse on the outskirts of De Smet.
Well, former resident. She’s recently moved to Minneapolis, where she writes
ads for a neighborhood paper edited by Ron Tumble. She might live and work in
the city, but her co-workers still call her Prairie Girl. Thus the inspiration
for her comic strip—“Lost Laura”—in which a bespectacled girl in a calico dress
tries to make her way in the city. The name is a quiet rebellion having grown
up in a household where she’d been forbidden to mention the name, Laura
Ingalls. But when her great-grandmother Mariah’s declining health brings Trixie
home for a visit, two things might just keep her there: the bedside manner of
Dr. Campbell Carter and the family secret that seems to be spilling from GG’s
lips one conversation at a time.
My
Thoughts:
Laura’s
Shadow by Allison Pittman
shares a different story about Laura Ingalls Wilder, the widely popular prairie
writer. The two time periods were interesting and filled with a pending
revelation that readers will eagerly flip the pages hoping to discover. The
past story was the one that really captured my attention. Of course, it was the
actual story that the present day story was alluding to. I kept waiting for GG
to explain to Trixie what the big secret was. A little disappointing at the
moment of the “revealing”, but I do not want to share any spoilers. This was a
unique story, which put Wilder in a different light, but it won’t tarnish her
reputation. On the other hand, the romance in both timelines were a little
off-setting. The present one definitely more than the past one. I did not buy
the romance in the current day story at all. It was a weird and left a bad
taste in my mouth. As for the past romance, the idea of Mariah’s brother and
how he treated her once he became married really rubbed me the wrong way. Not
that it does not happen because it does all the time. I just did not like to
read it that way. Did not go well for Mariah in the story. Overall, Laura’s
Shadow by Allison Pittman does definitely introduce readers into a Door
into the Past, but I wanted a better ending to the revelation of the big moment
that tied the two time periods together.
I received a
complimentary copy of Laura’s Shadow by Allison Pittman from Barbour Publishing,
but the opinions stated are all my own.
My
Rating: 3.5 out
of 5 stars
Purchase Laura’s Shadow
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