Book Description:
It's one thing to say you can find what people need--it's another to actually
do it.
It's 1932 and Sullivan Harris is on the run. An occasionally successful dowser, he promised the people of Kline, West Virginia, that he would find them water. But when wells turned up dry, he disappeared with their cash just a step or two ahead of Jeremiah Weber, who was elected to run him down.
Postmistress Gainey Floyd is suspicious of Sulley's abilities when he appears in her town but reconsiders after new wells fill with sweet water. Rather, it's Sulley who grows uneasy when his success makes folks wonder if he can find more than water--like forgotten items or missing people. He lights out to escape such expectations and runs smack into something worse.
Hundreds of men have found jobs digging the Hawks Nest Tunnel--but what they thought was a blessing is killing them. And no one seems to care. Here, Sulley finds something new--a desire to help. With it, he becomes an unexpected catalyst, bringing Jeremiah and Gainey together to find what even he has forgotten: hope.
My Thoughts:
I'd heard about The Finder of Lost Things for months and was
excited to win a copy in an online giveaway. The story twines with the Hawk's Nest
Tunnel in 1930s West Virginia, where the worst industrial disaster in US
history occurred. Many workers lost their lives to silicosis from the particles
in the tunnel. Although this story is shadowed by sadness, Thomas takes the
historical elements and infuses determination, hope, and friendship to create a
beautiful story of determination, change, and love. Postmistress Gainey Floyd
is an incredibly strong woman who has learned to live alone, content and determined
to help others. Jeremiah Weber has been a bachelor for so long, he's not sure
he wants to change. And Sullivan Harris, well he's a bit of a trickster who
hides his true heart and desires, even as he grows to care about the people put
in his path. I love the way Thomas weaves in the tragedy of Hawk's Nest and honors
the lives of those lost. She even memorializes many of them by name. I've
enjoyed every book I've read by Sarah Loudin Thomas. She's a wonderful writer
who touches on the soul of the character and the reader. Opinions written here
are my own. I received this book from a contest with no expectation for a
review.