The Memory Weaver by Jane Kirkpatrick
Revell, September 2015
Historical/Biographical/Inspirational
Review copy provided in exchange for review for Historical Novels Review
Burton Book Review Rating: 3.5 stars
Read my posts mentioning Jane Kirkpatrick works

Eliza Spalding Warren was just a child when she was taken hostage by the Cayuse Indians during a massacre in 1847. Now the young mother of two children, Eliza faces a different kind of dislocation; her impulsive husband wants them to make a new start in another territory, which will mean leaving her beloved home and her departed mother's grave--and returning to the land of her captivity. Eliza longs to know how her mother, an early missionary to the Nez Perce Indians, dealt with the challenges of life with a sometimes difficult husband and with her daughter's captivity.

When Eliza is finally given her mother's diary, she is stunned to find that her own memories are not necessarily the whole story of what happened. Can she lay the dark past to rest and move on? Or will her childhood memories always hold her hostage?

Based on true events, The Memory Weaver is New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick's latest literary journey into the past, where threads of western landscapes, family, and faith weave a tapestry of hope inside every pioneering woman's heart. Readers will find themselves swept up in this emotional story of the memories that entangle us and the healing that awaits us when we bravely unravel the threads of the past.

Jane Kirkpatrick's historical novels re-imagine a period of time many have forgotten, usually featuring important members of society of that particular time. The Memory Weaver brings us the story of Eliza Spalding growing up among the wilderness of the Oregon Trail in the mid 1800's and how she and her family dealt with the tragic event of the Indian Massacre of 1847. The Spalding family is a missionary family that traveled with the Whitman family in order to bring the "Book of Heaven" to the Indians across the Rockies.

At age ten, Eliza witnesses the horrible tragedy when the Whitmans were killed along with about a dozen others spurred on by a measles outbreak among the Cayuse Indians. Eliza's life is portrayed as reliving certain memories and how she eventually learns to interpret the memories from what she eventually believed happened and reality. Her tenacity, loyalty, strength and devotion to her family are all traits that we come to admire about Eliza, and the struggles between the Indians and pioneers are just one of the themes interlaced throughout the story. Eliza's relationships with her stubborn father, her sisters, and husband carry the story forward as we marvel at the hardships of the pioneer families.

Since the novel is written to closely mirror actual events, the final push towards the end of the novel focused more on Eliza's need to find peace and understanding with her memories, which stalled the enjoyment of the novel. Even still, the novel imparts an intriguing slice of America's history with several tear-jerking moments as we recount Eliza's steps as the first white baby to survive adulthood in the Oregon Territory.

Four unique stories each with four unique women..

Sincerely Yours:  A Novella Collection 

Another year, and another year of many awesome reads! There were a lot of fantastic books that I read this year, from the Christian historical theme to the various historical fiction ones that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to readers of the genre. If you are looking for Christmas gift ideas for historical fiction fans, here are some great reads! These are my most favorite of the year, their titles are linked to my reviews. See anything interesting?


WOW. I never thought I would so fall in love with a man, and Hemingway at that. So emotive and evocative this novel was, and the supporting characters are totally unforgettable. The setting and style of writing is awesome, and I also loved the author's previous work which I reviewed here. I just don't think she can write a bad book, and I am so happy for her well deserved success. I need to get a book by Hemingway on my mountain of to be read books.

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books (formerly The Printed Page) where book lovers share the titles they received for review, purchased, or otherwise obtained over the past week. Mailbox Monday is now on tour, and June's Host has been rescheduled to BE ME! www.BurtonBookReview.com

(This is a last minute change, as of 11:30 AM Monday, so the linky will go up next week, but feel free to leave your links at the original Mailbox Monday Blog with a new linky just set up.)

(I am posting this a bit early so I can free up the week for Armchair BEA posts. Be sure to follow the blog to be informed of the Giveaways I am holding starting Tuesday! And you'll need a few days to read this massive post anyway!)

Still working on the Mother's Day gift card for HalfPrice books, so I purchased:
Taking the photos from the top, folks..

Within My Heart (Timber Ridge Reflections #3) by Tamera Alexander
Sometimes the greatest step of faith is taken neck-deep in feat.

Determined to fulfill her late husband’s dream, Rachel Boyd struggles to keep her ranch afloat with the help of her two young sons. But some days it feels as though her every effort is sabotaged. When faced with a loss she cannot afford, she’s forced to trust Rand Brookston, the one man in Timber Ridge she wishes to avoid. And with good reason. He’s a physician, just like her father, which tells her everything she needs to know about him. Or so she thinks...

Dr. Rand Brookston ventured west with the dream of bringing modern medicine to the wilds of the Colorado Rockies, but the townspeople have been slow to trust him. Just as slow in coming is Rand’s dream to build the town a proper clinic. When a patient’s life is threatened, Rand makes a choice—one that sends ripples through the town of Timber Ridge. And through Rachel Boyd’s stubborn heart.
{Christy Awards Nominee 2010}


From A Distance  (Timber Ridge Reflections #1) by Tamera Alexander
What happens when the realization of a dream isn't what you imagined... and the secret you've spent a lifetime guarding is finally laid bare?

Determined to become one of the country's premier newspaper photographers, Elizabeth Westbrook travels to the Colorado Territory to capture the grandeur of the mountains surrounding the remote town of Timber Ridge. She hopes, too, that the cool, dry air of Colorado, and its renowned hot springs, will cure the mysterious illness that threatens her career, and her life.

Daniel Ranslett is a man shackled by his Confederate past, and he'll do anything to protect his land, and his solitude. When an outspoken Yankee photographer captures an image that appears key to solving a murder, putting herself in danger, Daniel is called upon to repay a debt. He's a man of his word, but repaying that debt could reveal secrets from his past he would prefer remain buried.

Forced on a perilous journey together, Daniel and Elizabeth's lives intertwine in ways neither could have imagined when first they met from a distance.
{WINNER Christy Award for Historical Romance (2009)}

Halos by Kristen Heitzmann

A Name of Her Own (Tender Ties #1) by Jane Kirkpatrick
{after reading and LOVING Kirkpatrick's latest, my mission is to own all of her work.}
Based on the life of Marie Dorion, the first mother to cross the Rocky Mountains and remain in the Northwest, A Name of Her Own is the fictionalized adventure account of a real woman’s fight to settle in a new landscape, survive in a nation at war, protect her sons and raise them well and, despite an abusive, alcoholic husband, keep her marriage together.

With two rambunctious young sons to raise, Marie Dorion refuses to be left behind in St. Louis when her husband heads West with the Wilson Hunt Astoria expedition of 1811. Faced with hostile landscapes, an untried expedition leader, and her volatile husband, Marie finds that the daring act she hoped would bind her family together may in the end tear them apart.

On the journey, Marie meets up with the famous Lewis and Clark interpreter, Sacagawea. Both are Indian women married to mixed-blood men of French Canadian and Indian descent, both are pregnant, both traveled with expeditions led by white men, and both are raising sons in a white world.

Together, the women forge a friendship that will strengthen and uphold Marie long after they part, even as she faces the greatest crisis of her life, and as she fights for her family’s very survival with the courage and gritty determination that can only be fueled by a mother’s love.

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
History has all but forgotten...In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.
Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.
But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her...

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers {this one comes highly recommended, and is on some fellow bloggers' Fave of All Time lists, so I've gotta check this out!}
California's gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.

Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.

Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father's heart in everything, Michael obeys God's call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel's every bitter expectation, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw.

But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband's pursuing love, terrified of the truth she no longer can deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael does ... the One who will never let her go.



And I made a second trip.. so from the top folks..
Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer, Sourcebooks reissue of her 1968 novel
Enjoy one of only two Heyer Gothic Regency romances.

Kate, in dire circumstances, is surprised to receive an invitation to live with a distant aunt. Her aunt, uncle, and cousin welcome her to their estate, buy her new clothes, and provide all the amenities a Young lady of quality should have. Slowly, however, as strange events unfold, Kate begins to realize that her aunt's apparent benevolence hides an ulterior motive. To assure succession of the title, her aunt intends Kate to marry her cousin Torquil, until his increasingly bizarre behavior culminates in violence and tragedy. A compelling tale exploring mental illness in the Regency period.

Lady in the Mist by Laurie Alice Eakes (Midwives Series Book 1) February 2011
I really enjoyed Eakes' second stand-alone novel in this series, so I had my eyes peeled for this one.. yay!
By virtue of her profession as a midwife, Tabitha Eckles is the keeper of many secrets: the names of fathers of illegitimate children, the level of love and harmony within many a marriage, and now the identity of a man who may have caused his wife's death. Dominick Cherrett is a man with his own secret to keep: namely, what he, a British nobleman, is doing on American soil working as a bondsman in the home of Mayor Kendall, a Southern gentleman with his eye on a higher office.

By chance one morning before the dawn has broken, Tabitha and Dominick cross paths on a misty beachhead, leading them on a twisted path through kidnappings, death threats, public disgrace, and . . . love? Can Tabitha trust Dominick? What might he be hiding? And can either of them find true love in a world that seems set against them?

With stirring writing that puts readers directly into the story, Lady in the Mist expertly explores themes of identity, misperception, and love's discovery.

Rekindled by Tamera Alexander (Fountain Creek Chronicles #1) March 2006
Comes highly recommended by fellow blogger Farrah at http://tbfreviews.net/
At a different time, in a different place, under different circumstances... could two people fall in love once again?

Ten years ago Kathryn Jennings made a vow. For better or worse. And that promise still holds true, even though her marriage has not turned out as she expected. When her husband fails to return home one stormy winter night, she struggles to keep their ranch, but her efforts are blocked at every turn. After a shocking glimpse into her husband's past, Kathryn uncovers a hidden truth. What she wouldn't give to turn back time and be able to love her husband for the man that he was, not for the man she always wanted him to be.

Larson Jennings has spent his entire life running from a broken past, unable to trust, reluctant to try again. One fateful night, his life takes an unexpected twist, and soon he is forced to make a choice. Whatever he chooses, his decision may cost him his life.

Deep in the Heart by Gilbert Morris (Lone Star Legacy #1) November 2003
 (I also downloaded a few eBooks of his, I am ASTONISHED at how prolific this author is!)

The lame synopsis on Goodreads and Amazon is: The Texas Frontier provides for riveting adventure and inspiring characters as this historical fiction series draws readers into the struggle for freedom.

But here is the back cover, and so I sent this to Audra to see if she can update it on Goodreads:

They came to Texas to make their family whole. They fought for the land they'd come to love. An unforgettable saga of faith, love and loyalty that will find its place deep in your heart.

In the days when Texas was the northern edge of Mexico, when Bowie and Houston and Crockett were men and not yet legends, when the Alamo was still a scruffy mission on the banks of the San Antonio River, this unorthodox family struggled to make a wild but beautiful land their own.

This is the tale of Jerusalem Ann, who is willing to take whatever life dishes out in order to make a life for her family. It's the story of Clay, who finds himself protecting another man's family - and in love with another man's wife. It's about Jake, who loves two women and can't do right by either... and Julie, who'd rather be free than respectable... and Bowie, who can handle war but might not survive his first love. It's the story of Comanches and fiestas, hunting parties and courting parties, of battles and massacres and beautiful calm nights under a canopy of stars.
Wide as the prairies, warm as a San Antonia breeze, spiced with adventure and romance, this Texas-sized saga of faith from a beloved storyteller will quickly find its place deep in your heart.. and never let you go.

A Distant Melody by Sarah Sundin (Wings of Glory #1) March 2010, a bit of a chunkster at 421 pages
I read book three, follows the family of brothers, but separated stories enough that it will be fine for me to go backwards!

Another short synopsis (le sigh)
In this World War II-era romance, Allie is promised to a man she doesn't love. When a furloughed B-17 bomber pilot captures her heart, will she honor her family's wishes or take a chance on true love?

Back cover:
Will a chance meeting in a time of war change her life forever?

Never pretty enough to please her gorgeous mother, Allie will do anything to gain her approval - even marry a man she doesn't love. While Allie has nearly resigned herself to that fate, Lt. Walter Novak - fearless in the cockpit but hopeless with women - takes his last furlough at home in California before being shipped overseas.

Walt and Allie meet and begin a correspondence that will change their lives. As letters fly between Walt's muddy bomber base in England and Allie's mansion in an orange grove, their friendship binds them together. But can they untangle the secrets, commitments, and expectations that keep them apart?
Book 1 in the Wings of Glory series, A Distant Melody is an exciting and tender story of love, courage, and sacrifice during World War II.


 And then I won this eBook from the author:

After the Fog by Kathleen Shoop  (May 8, 2012)
The sins of the mother...
In the steel mill town of Donora, Pennsylvania, site of the infamous 1948 "killing smog," headstrong nurse Rose Pavlesic tends to her family and neighbors. Controlling and demanding, she's created a life that reflects everything she missed growing up as an orphan. She's even managed to keep her painful secrets hidden from her loving husband, dutiful children, and large extended family.
When a stagnant weather pattern traps poisonous mill gasses in the valley, neighbors grow sicker and Rose's nursing obligations thrust her into conflict she never could have fathomed. Consequences from her past collide with her present life, making her once clear decisions as gray as the suffocating smog. As pressure mounts, Rose finds she's not the only one harboring lies. When the deadly fog finally clears, the loss of trust and faith leaves the Pavlesic family-and the whole town-splintered and shocked. With her new perspective, can Rose finally forgive herself and let her family's healing begin?

And another Kindle read .. (someday I'll buy a kindle..) I couldn't resist the $2.99 deal on this one, since I LOVED her first novel:

The House of Velvet and Glass  (April 2012) by Katherine Howe
Katherine Howe, author of the phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, returns with an entrancing historical novel set in Boston in 1915, where a young woman stands on the cusp of a new century, torn between loss and love, driven to seek answers in the depths of a crystal ball.

Still reeling from the deaths of her mother and sister on the Titanic, Sibyl Allston is living a life of quiet desperation with her taciturn father and scandal-plagued brother in an elegant town house in Boston’s Back Bay. Trapped in a world over which she has no control, Sibyl flees for solace to the parlor of a table-turning medium.

But when her brother is suddenly kicked out of Harvard under mysterious circumstances and falls under the sway of a strange young woman, Sibyl turns for help to psychology professor Benton Derby, despite the unspoken tensions of their shared past. As Benton and Sibyl work together to solve a harrowing mystery, their long-simmering spark flares to life, and they realize that there may be something even more magical between them than a medium’s scrying glass.

From the opium dens of Boston’s Chinatown to the opulent salons of high society, from the back alleys of colonial Shanghai to the decks of the Titanic, The House of Velvet and Glass weaves together meticulous period detail, intoxicating romance, and a final shocking twist that will leave readers breathless.

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia from A girl and her books (formerly The Printed Page) where book lovers share the titles they received for review, purchased, or otherwise obtained over the past week. Mailbox Monday is now on tour, and May's host is Martha @ Martha’s Bookshelf
With thanks to my loving husband who pays attention to emails about buying your darling wife gift cards to HalfPrice Books..I bought these! I will go back during their 20% off  Memorial Day Sale.



Masquerade by Nancy Moser 


A Flickering Light by Jane Kirkpatrick
(I am going to buy every single one of Jane Kirkpatrick's books, after reading her latest Where Lilacs Still Bloom)
This one was a Christy Award Nominee for Historical, 2010.



Gathering of Finches by Jane Kirkpatrick
I finally found this!! I have Book One but hate reading series books if I can't read the next one soon after! So now I can finally read In the Shadow of the Sun King!! (I've had it for over 3 years, smack my head).

Lavish and Luxurious VersaillesKing Louis XIV's burgeoning palace is the place to be--and be seen. And the last place on earth Madeleine wants to be.

She's trapped there as a pampered prisoner. If she stays in France, she'll be forced to deny her faith. By escaping the King's long arm, she may find freedom--but it will cost her everything she holds dear.

Madeleine will need courage, hope, and total faith in God to outmaneuver the Sun King and reach her true destiny--and love--in another country.



Lady MacBeth by Susan Fraser King
Lady Macbeth as you’ve never seen her . . .

Lady Gruadh, called Rue, is the last female descendant of Scotland’s most royal line. Married to a powerful northern lord, she is widowed while still carrying his child and forced to marry her husband’s murderer: a rising warlord named Macbeth. Encountering danger from Vikings, Saxons, and treacherous Scottish lords, Rue begins to respect the man she once despised–and then realizes that Macbeth’s complex ambitions extend beyond the borders of the vast northern region. Among the powerful warlords and their steel games, only Macbeth can unite Scotland–but his wife’s royal blood is the key to his ultimate success.

Determined to protect her son and a proud legacy of warrior kings and strong women, Rue invokes the ancient wisdom and secret practices of her female ancestors as she strives to hold her own in a warrior society. Finally, side by side as the last Celtic king and queen of Scotland, she and Macbeth must face the gathering storm brought on by their combined destiny.

From towering crags to misted moors and formidable fortresses, Lady Macbeth transports readers to the heart of eleventh-century Scotland, painting a bold, vivid portrait of a woman much maligned by history.


Last week, I watched a chat with a few Christian & historical fiction authors, such as Olivia Newport and Katie Ganshert~ I had recieved Wildflowers From Winter for review and I enjoyed learning of the messages behind their books. Very inspiring ladies. Here is Katie's debut novel, which has already gotten rave reviews; I am so glad to have received a chance to review this!

May 8 2012

Wildflowers from Winter by Katie Ganshert
Like the winter, grief has a season. Life returns with the spring.

A young architect at a prestigious Chicago firm, Bethany Quinn has built the life she dreamed of during her teen years in a trailer park. An unexpected interruption from her estranged mother reveals that tragedy has struck in her hometown and a reluctant Bethany is called back to rural Iowa.

Determined to pay her respects to her past while avoiding any emotional entanglements, she vows not to stay long. But the unexpected inheritance of five hundred acres of farmland and a startling turn of events in Chicago forces Bethany to come up with a new plan.

Handsome farmhand Evan Price has taken care of the Quinn farm for years. When Bethany is left the land, Evan must fight her decisions to realize his dreams. But even as he disagrees with Bethany’s vision, Evan feels drawn to her and the pain she keeps so carefully locked away.

For Bethany, making peace with her past and the God of her childhood doesn’t seem like the path to freedom. Is letting go the only way to new life, love and a peace that she’s not even sure exists?


And now a personal rant:
I have now accumulated a mass library of my own. Full of fabulously fantastic books that I know I will enjoy and love.. but yet I will NEVER get to because I keep accepting review books.
It is time to really .. for once and for all .. reconsider the whole reviewing for publishers/authors thing.

A NEW FAVORITE OF 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where Lilacs Still Bloom by Jane Kirkpatrick
WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing April 17, 2012
Literary/Historical Christian Fiction
Paperback 384 pages
Review copy from the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: Fantastic!

German immigrant and farm wife Hulda Klager possesses only an eighth-grade education—and a burning desire to create something beautiful. What begins as a hobby to create an easy-peeling apple for her pies becomes Hulda’s driving purpose: a time-consuming interest in plant hybridization that puts her at odds with family and community, as she challenges the early twentieth-century expectations for a simple housewife. 

Through the years, seasonal floods continually threaten to erase her Woodland, Washington garden and a series of family tragedies cause even Hulda to question her focus. In a time of practicality, can one person’s simple gifts of beauty make a difference? 

Based on the life of Hulda Klager, Where Lilacs Still Bloom is a story of triumph over an impossible dream and the power of a generous heart.

“Beauty matters… it does. God gave us flowers for a reason. Flowers remind us to put away fear, to stop our rushing and running and worrying about this and that, and for a moment, have a piece of paradise right here on earth.”

• Author's Web Site
• More Info
• Read Chapter One
• Author Bio

The endearing and captivating prose of Jane Kirkpatrick vividly brings to life the whimsy of lilacs and the lives that they inspired in this story of love, loyalty, faith, friendship, and flowers. The novel follows the path of Hulda, of German descent, raising her family during the early 1900's in Washington State. Cross breeding plants was Hulda's passion, and she enjoyed bringing her family into her flowery dreams of improved apples, lilacs and daffodils.

The story is not all about Hulda, however. It reaches for a saga type nuance by bringing in new characters, such as Shelly and Bill Snyder in Baltimore, and Shelly's overbearing mother-in-law. Flowers are incorporated their story, too. The neighbor girls, their families, and Hulda's daughters all bring new characters to add to the all-encompassing feel of togetherness and community. And there was Fritz, the most loyal and dear son a mother could hope for.

And of course there is Hulda's husband Frank, who had an endearing way of saying "I submit" often. After horses trampled Hulda's precious garden, Frank empathized but said "But you'll make lemonade of it, after all, I submit. Yes, indeed, that's what I submit."

Imagery and metaphors - such as walking on lily pads when speaking to someone who was grieving for a loved one - graced the pages, and the spirit of Hulda's passion shone with glistening hope as I read and devoured this story. There is no way my simple words can express the level of emotion I felt while reading this story, which was fraught with ups and downs of a family, from happy moments to tragic events all happening to Hulda as she strove for that perfect creamy white twelve petal lilac. The story of Hulda Klager touched my soul as I cried during the floods and the deaths that Hulda had endured during her very long life. Touching upon the questions of faith versus nature versus God's creation, the tone of the book was such that I could not put it down. Where Lilacs Still Bloom is the epitome of a page turner.

Most of all refreshing and touching, Hulda was indeed a real person, and the author brilliantly brought this special person back to life. I was so enamored with the story that I wept right along with Hulda, just as if she were my own grandmother. I would be remiss if I didn't pay homage to the lilac: the fragrance of the flower that I can still recall after leaving behind my lilac bush seventeen years ago. I still think of that very lilac bush from time to time. I wish the lilac would bloom in Texas, but I will have to settle for the memories, which will now include this fantastic and mesmerizing novel.

With both historical details and factual details regarding flowers, Where Lilacs Still Bloom incorporates many elements which makes it indescribable. This book goes to top of my list as the Best of 2012. I can hardly contain myself as I want to go and buy all of Jane Kirkpatrick's books immediately. Where to begin?!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for this honest review. I thank them wholeheartedly for this amazing experience.

You can help me get more amazing books like this by rating my review online: