Until the Harvest (Book Review)

Often, there are many books I can’t wait to read. Great stories by fabulous authors.

Sadly—since I write, too, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to read everything I wish I could. However—regardless how busy, how drained, how pressed for time I am—there are those authors who, without a doubt, I know I will read.

I’ll make time. I’ll stay up late. I’ll read every word they write.

They’re the authors, through their magnificent story-telling, who’ve made me a forever-fan. The authors who’ve impacted me through one book, many books, or their first book.

Sarah Loudin Thomas is one of those authors. She hooked me from her first book, Miracle in a Dry Season (see my review here), and I was impressed by her voice and her story-crafting.

The author’s writing style is poignant and insightful. Her stories are beautifully rendered, without unnecessary ten-dollar words.

Until the Harvest (Bethany House) is the second novel in author Sarah Loudin Thomas’s Appalachian Blessings series.

Here’s what the book is about (via the author’s website):

*Until the Harvest – Released May 2015 – Continue the Phillips’ family saga with Casewell & Perla’s son Henry.

When a family tragedy derails Henry Phillips’s college studies, he’s left unmoored and feeling abandoned. Although Henry tries to find escape in bad company, the only things that can tamp down his anger and grief are the family farm, his fiddle, and sweet but unusual pre-teen Mayfair Hoffman.

Unfortunately, Mayfair’s older sister, Margaret, with the freckles and cute, turned-up nose, has the opposite effect. Worse, she’s his grandmother’s housekeeper and helper, so she’s always around and ready to push his buttons. At first he thinks she doesn’t care about his loss, before beginning to understand she’s facing her own struggles. Mayfair’s health and unique gift sit at the heart of those worries, and Henry and Margaret soon find themselves relying on each other as both Henry’s future and Mayfair’s life are put at risk.

If you’ve not yet read Miracle in a Dry Season (I encourage you to), no worries. Until the Harvest reads well as a stand-alone novel.

And what a novel it is!

I, for one, couldn’t wait to immerse myself again in the Phillipses’ world. To find out what had happened to my favorite characters, my friends, and be introduced to some new faces, as well.

Chapter One didn’t disappoint.

Our story opens in Wise, West Virginia. The year is 1975.

We meet Henry Phillips, Casewell and Perla’s college-age son who’s home for the holidays, and eager for some R & R and a little fun, too. Music and fiddle-playing are Henry’s balm—a welcomed respite from education and expectation.

With the semester nearly over, Henry wants nothing more than to step away from his studies for a while and pursue what really matters. His dream. Music.

The trouble is Mom and Dad don’t quite see things Henry’s way, and Henry’s about to come face-to-face with life-altering decisions that will forever influence his future.

When family tragedy strikes, Henry resolves to do not necessarily what he thinks is best, but what he ultimately wanted to do in the first place. He decides to take time off from school, help around the family farm, and make a little music.

Enter Margaret Hoffman, and her pre-teen sister, Mayfair. Margaret is the young woman who helps out over at Henry’s Grandma Emily’s place. For various reasons, Mayfair often tags along under Margaret’s nurturing wing.

Despite her own physical malady, Mayfair seems to have the knack for making folks feel better. She’s quiet and painfully shy, and soon, Henry develops a soft spot for the young girl. Margaret, on the other hand, he could take or leave. There’s something about the older sister that just leaves him cold.

As Until the Harvest unfolds, we learn why Mayfair and Margaret spend so much time at Grandma Emily’s. (Let’s just say the parental bonds with their own parents are a far cry from the happiest of upbringings.)

Henry makes a bad choice, and that preliminary choice is the very one that sets off a firestorm of bad choices. Getting involved with moonshiners isn’t exactly the smartest thing to do, but because God grants His children free will, we don’t always make the wisest decisions when we choose to do things our way.

Over the course of the story, Henry starts to realize the error of his ways (I’m simplifying this for sake of space), and he also begins to see Margaret in a new, revealing light.

Meanwhile, Mayfair inspires faith and hope around the community of Wise. (The bond between Mayfair and a moonshiner’s wife, Beulah, is particularly moving and integral to the storyline.)

As newfound feelings between Henry and Margaret develop and blossom, so does their relationship with the Lord. (The author captures the Christian walk beautifully in a gentle, non-preachy way.)

My heart clenched throughout the story over the main characters’ thoughts, choices, and decisions.

I loved the constant and consistent message and theme of Until the Harvest: We don’t have to be perfect. Christ meets and loves us right where we are, and He alone is able to take the muck and mire of our lives and turn it around for good if we hand Him the reigns.

There are so many ah-ha moments in this book, it’s impossible to list them all. The author ties up every last detail, leaving the reader breathless and reflective, yet hankering for more.

I had only one question when I finished reading.

When’s the next book?

My rating of Until the Harvest: 5/5 stars

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Author Bio

(per website)

Sarah Loudin Thomas grew up on a 100-acre farm in French Creek, WV, the seventh generation to live there. Her Christian fiction is set in West Virginia and celebrates the people, the land, and the heritage of Appalachia. Her first novel, Miracle in a Dry Season, released August 2014 through Bethany House. Book #2, Until the Harvest, released May 2015. Sarah is represented by Wendy Lawton of Books & Such Literary Agency.

A graduate of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC, Sarah once dreamed of being a marine scientist. But her love for words won out and she has spent much of her career in public relations and marketing. She currently oversees fundraising and communications for a Christian children’s home in Black Mountain, NC.

Sarah and her husband Jim live in the mountains of Western North Carolina with Thistle—the canine equivalent to a personal trainer pushing them to hike, run, and throw sticks. Sarah is active in her local church and enjoys cooking and–you guessed it–reading.

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*Until the Harvest was provided to me via the publisher. My review is fair, honest, and my own. I was not paid for this review.

 

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See you back on Friday!

Until then—

Much Love and Many Blessings,