Historical Fiction Review: What Momma Left Behind by Cindy Sproles

Book Description:

Worie Dressar is 17 years old when influenza and typhoid ravage her Appalachian Mountain community in 1877, leaving behind a growing number of orphaned children with no way to care for themselves. Worie's mother has been secretly feeding a number of these little ones on Sourwood Mountain. But when she dies suddenly, Worie is left to figure out why and how she was caring for them.

Plagued with two good-for-nothing brothers--one greedy and the other a drunkard--Worie fights to save her home and the orphaned children now in her begrudging care. Along the way, she will discover the beauty of unconditional love and the power of forgiveness as she cares for all of Momma's children.

Storyteller and popular speaker Cindy K. Sproles pens a tender novel full of sacrifice, heartache, and courage in the face of overwhelming obstacles.

My Review:

Cindy Sproles is the new voice of Appalachian fiction. With passion, she captures the heartache, frustration, and joy of living in the mountains in the late 1800s. I love Cindy's writing as she explores Worie's journey from motherless to attempting to follow in her momma's footsteps. Worie may be a young woman, but she's tough and knows what she wants. Yet her heart seeks help. Her Momma's words echo in her mind as she figures out the role God plays in her life, and why she's been left behind to pick up the pieces. I've read Cindy's first two novels, Liar's Winter and Mercy's Rain and can say her writing just gets better and better. The beauty of her writing flows with the dialect of the Appalachian people, their sayings, honesty about life there, and the glorious landscape. She's set the stage to continue sharing stories of the mountains she calls home. If you enjoy honest, poignant stories, you'll like What Momma Left Behind. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Releases June 2, pre-order now

Cindy's website says:

Cindy K. Sproles is an author and a speaker, whose dream is to do nothing more than craft words that speak from the heart. God's plan seems to be for her to write and teach the craft.  With God’s guidance, Cindy is expanding her horizons. We'll see how He uses her.

Cindy is a mountain gal. Proud of her heritage, she was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains where life is simple, words have a deep southern drawl, and colloquialisms like, "well slap my knee and call me corn pone" seem to take precedence over proper speech. Apple Butter, coal mining, the river, pink sunrises and golden sunsets help you settle into a porch swing and relax. Family, the love of God and strong morals are embedded into her life in the mountains. Teaching writers, spinning fiction tales about life in the mountains, history and down home ideas find their way into all she does. “I love to write devotions, to seek after the deeper side of Christ and to share the lessons He teaches me from life in the hills of East Tennessee. I am a writer. A speaker. A lover of God's Word and friend to all.” This is Cindy Sproles. Welcome home to the mountains. -from Cindy's website

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Fiction Reviews: Liar's Winter & Mercy's Rain by Cindy Sproles

Liar's Winter Book Description:

Liar's Winter

Lochiel Ogle was born with a red-wine birthmark--and it put her life in jeopardy from the moment she entered the world. Mountain folks called it "the mark of the devil," and for all the evil that has plagued her nineteen-year existence, Lochiel is ready to believe that is true. And the evil surely took control of the mind of the boy who stole her as an infant, bringing her home for his mother to raise.

Abused and abandoned by the only people she knows as family, Lochiel is rescued by a peddler and given the first glimpse of love she has ever known. The truth of her past is gradually revealed as is the fact that she is still hunted by a brother driven to see her dead. Unsure if there's anyone she can truly trust, Lochiel is faced with a series of choices: Will she continue to run for escape or will she face her past and accept the heartbreaking secrets it reveals? Which will truly free her?

Set in the wild and beautiful Appalachian Mountains of nineteenth-century East Tennessee, Liar's Winter is an unflinching yet inspirational exploration of prejudice and choice.

Mercy's Rain Book Description:
When your life is built around a father's wrath, how can you trust in the love of Father God?

Mercy Roller knows her name is a lie: there has never been any mercy in her young life. Raised by a twisted and abusive father who called himself the Pastor, she was abandoned by the church community that should have stood together to protect her from his evil. Her mother, consumed by her own fear and hate, won't stand her ground to save Mercy either.

Mercy's Rain

The Pastor has robbed Mercy of innocence and love, a husband and her child. Not a single person seems capable of standing up to the Pastor's unrestrained evil. So Mercy takes matters into her own hands.

Her heart was hardened to love long before she took on the role of judge, jury, and executioner of the Pastor. She just didn't realize the retribution she thought would save her, might turn her into the very thing she hated most.

Sent away by her angry and grieving mother, Mercy's path is unclear until she meets a young preacher headed to counsel a pregnant couple. Sure that her calling is to protect the family, Mercy is drawn into a different life on the other side of the mountain where she slowly discovers true righteousness has nothing evil about it--and that there might be room for her own stained and shattered soul to find shelter. . . and even love.

Mercy's Rain is a remarkable historical novel set in 19th century Appalachia that traces the thorny path from bitterness to forgiveness and reveals the victory and strength that comes from simple faith.

My Review:I love Cindy Sprole's writing about mountain folk. Her description and dialect drew me into the beautiful Appalachian setting and into the heart of the people. The women portrayed in the stories endure difficult circumstances, sometimes hard to digest. But I love how they drew on their deepest emotions and found the courage to move forward. Lochiel and Mercy's stories are difficult, they struggle, but they also endure. Cindy has captured the essence of what life is like in the mountains and how God's love overcomes evil. She writes about the hard stuff, pain and sorrow with the essence of hope. Years ago, I fell in love with literature written about the Appalachian Mountains when I read Christy by Catherine Marshall. I am thrilled to visit the mountains once again in Sprole's books. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Cindy has a new book coming out in June, 

What Momma Left Behind.