Through Rushing Water, Catherine Richmond

From the Publisher:

Sophia has her life all planned out—but her plan didn’t include being jilted or ending up in Dakota Territory.

Sophia Makinoff is certain that 1876 is the year that she’ll become the wife of a certain US Congressman, and happily plans her debut into the Capitol city. But when he proposes to her roommate instead, Sophia is stunned. Hoping to flee her heartache and humiliation, she signs up with the Board of Foreign Missions on a whim.

With dreams of a romantic posting to the Far East, Sophia is dismayed to find she’s being sent to the Ponca Indian Agency in the bleak Dakota Territory. She can’t even run away effectively and begins to wonder how on earth she’ll be able to guide others as a missionary. But teaching the Ponca children provides her with a joy she has never known—and never expected—and ignites in her a passion for the people she’s sent to serve.

It’s a passion shared by the Agency carpenter, WillougIhby Dunn, a man whose integrity and selflessness are unmatched. The Poncas are barely surviving. When U.S. policy decrees that they be uprooted from their land and marched hundreds of miles away in the middle of winter, Sophia and Will wade into rushing waters to fight for their friends, their love, and their destiny.

From Pebblekeeper

I really enjoyed reading Through Rushing Water.  I read it some time back, and forgot to write out a review. This afternoon – I was looking through my Kindle and saw the book there  - and started reading.  I was taken back to Sophia’s shock when she realized it would not be her that would be the congressman’s wife. I was quickly swept to her decision to not go to China – but to the Dakota Territory and quickly realized I had read this fine story before.  It is such a great read – that I will continue this evening, and re-walk her journey with the Ponca People.  I really loved her relationship with the people, and her struggles as she grows and matures as a young lady.  Her prayer book always just out of hand when she needs it most, she learns how to communicate with Christ in her own words.  How many of us rely on resources and tools to be able to communicate with our Lord? Strange that the author was so honest with this missionary character – letting her be walking out of duty and distance, and the joy of growing with her as she develops her own walk.  This is well worth the purchase – reads well on the kindle, a light read, but a heart felt story.  Wonderful Historical Fiction.

I received a copy of this book for free from BookSneeze as a part of their book review team in exchange for an honest review.

 

Through Rushing Water

By Catherine Richmond
Published by Thomas Nelson

Spring for Susannah by Catherine Richmond

After long weeks, illness, fatigue – I reach out for a simple novel to read. Escape?  Ponder what might have been had I lived 100 years or more ago? Amish Novels, Homesteading novels, families traveling west, immigrants making good in sod homes. After reading so many of these, they start to blur together. Like watching old reruns of favorite sitcoms. The family asks – Have I watched this one before?

On the story line – one might ask – Have I Read This One Before?  Tiny girl, squashed emotionally and physically by the blows of death and running from her life of privilege after reports of her father loosing his monies after death – she escapes as a mail order bride type, to seek the brother of her pastor out on the Dakota Prairie. The ebb and flow of the relationship building is to be expected. Love – Security – conquers all – the Lord is found, along with love.

The thread of the ideas of this particular story – how it is woven – should make one stop to ponder a bit. Of relationships. Of Public Shoulds. What Should a person do to please others? Their Spouse? Their Parents?  Many a theme from conversations with girlfriends who have or are facing divorce ring through in this story. Loss of income. Loss of Hope. Loss of a child. Geographical distance from a spouse. The entire town encouraging you to marry another. The Loss of everything you worked to build on this earth. Run. Run. Run. The desire to talk with a girlfriend the things not seemly to talk to your spouse about. The loneliness that comes when you do not see your spouse as your best friend, but rather a business partner.  There are questions in the back of the book to help you bring this novel into a common day life question list  - of what is happening to marriage today  - And how to cling to those vows, no matter how thin a piece of paper they are written on – and place your hope and trust in the Lord – and not a man.

On the Historical Novel Side – I enjoyed the time frame – the events that occur in the late 1860’s. The details of several nationalities forming a town from a patch of grass, forming a community with language and cultural barriers. Stepping up to fill the roles of banker, preacher, and storekeeper.

The BIGGEST plus I enjoyed about this book – that I will try to always mention in these reviews – is the “thought pattern” of the main character.  In this book we are not subjected to endless thought –retelling – of their life. Thank You Very Much!

Looking for a way to hunker down and rest for the afternoon – being caught up in the lives of those on the frontier?  I recommend this book!

Description From Book Sneeze -

Book Description

When Susannah goes to Dakota territory as a mail-order bride she finds something she never dreamed she would—true love.

With no prospects for marriage and her parents recently deceased, Susannah Underhill agrees to go west to the Dakota territory to marry her minister's homesteading brother, Jesse. But Susannah is painfully shy, doesn't see herself as worthy of love from either a husband or from God, and lives in constant fear that Jesse is going to ship her back to Detroit.

In spite of her petite size and the fact that Susannah doesn't look like she could survive on the prairie, Jesse quickly discovers that his new wife is a greater blessing than he even hoped for. The years she spent as her father's veterinary assistant allow her to save Jesse's ox and twin calves and to help neighboring farmers with their animals.

But Susannah's feelings of unworthiness are deeply rooted, and she can't believe that Jesse's praise—or the tenderness and love he shows—could possibly last. The thawing of her heart seems almost as distant as Spring in the midst of the winter blanketing the Dakota prairie.

I received this ebook for free
in exchange for an honest review
from Booksneeze.