Spring for Susannah
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Spring for Susannah
Hundreds of miles from home, Susannah faces an uncertain future as a mail-order bride on the untamed Dakota prairie.
When her parents die suddenly, and no suitors call, Susannah resigns herself to the only option available: becoming a mail-order bride. Agreeing to marry her pastor's brother, Jesse, Susannah leaves the only home she's ever known for the untamed frontier of the Dakota Territory.
Her new husband is more loving and patient with her than she believes she deserves. Still, there is also a wildness to him that mirrors the wilderness surrounding them. And Susannah finds herself constantly on edge. But Jesse's confidence in her-and his faith in God's perfect plan-slowly begin to chip away at the wall she hides behind.
When she miscarries in the brutal Dakota winter, Susannah's fledgling faith in herself and in God begins to crumble. Still, Jesse's love is unwavering. Just when it seems like winter will never end, Susannah finally sees the first tentative evidence of spring. And with it, the realization that more than the landscape has changed.
She looks to the future with a renewed heart. Yet in her wildest dreams, she couldn't predict all that awaits her.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR~Catherine Richmond was focused on her career as an occupational therapist till a special song planted a story idea in her mind. That idea would ultimately become Spring for Susannah, her first novel. She is also a founder and moderator of Nebraska Novelist critique group and lives in Nebraska with her husband.For more about Catherine, please visit www.catherinerichmond.com.
MY THOUGHTS:
I love the idea of mail order brides. This one has a little twist ~ Susannah isn't actually a mail order bride. She and Jesse are put together by Jesse's brother. They have a proxy marriage, which is where either the groom or the bride is not present during the ceremony. Jesse was not present, so Susannah had to travel to meet her husband. What a surprise that awaits this city girl when she steps off the train and finds hardly anything that resembles a town.
In all honesty, I wanted to love this book. I know this is a debut book for the author and her writing will get better with time. There is just way too much going on in the book and at times, I found myself a little confused. Then there are the parts where the couple are intimate. I know, they were married and that is all fine because the marriage bed is sacred. But, Christian love stories can be written without crossing that line, so a book can be targeted to both married and single women. Because of this, I could not recommend the book to any of my single friends.
I was sent this book for free from Litfuse in return for my honest opinion.
In all honesty, I wanted to love this book. I know this is a debut book for the author and her writing will get better with time. There is just way too much going on in the book and at times, I found myself a little confused. Then there are the parts where the couple are intimate. I know, they were married and that is all fine because the marriage bed is sacred. But, Christian love stories can be written without crossing that line, so a book can be targeted to both married and single women. Because of this, I could not recommend the book to any of my single friends.
I was sent this book for free from Litfuse in return for my honest opinion.
 | Spring for Susannah - eBook By Catherine Richmond / Thomas Nelson With no prospects for marriage and her parents recently deceased, Susannah Freemont 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. |
