Review:
In the small town of Jamesville in Southern Appalachia in 197, Madeline Fairbanks does her best to keep the town healthy with the herbal remedies passed down through her family. Madeline also tries her best to push the townspeople toward racial and gender equality with the help of her black apprentice, Ren Morgan. When the new reverend, Carl Howard strolls into town, he begins to question all of Maddie's beliefs. Reverend Howard also finds powerful allies in the newly formed KKK groups who are easily swayed to believe that Maddie's herbs are witchcraft and that segregation should be violently enforced.
Winter's Reckoning is a timely historical fiction story melding together medicine, magic and community for an exciting story. I loved Maddie's character immediately as she treated a bullet wound while showing her relationship and standing with the people of the town. I liked that Maddie and Ren had a dynamic relationship, they weren't perfect, but definitely had a mutual respect for one another and had each other's backs. Maddie's granddaughter, Hannah was enchanting and I knew she would be of importance as the book progressed. The setting of Jamesville was perfect and through the writing I could imagine the dusty streets with closed shops, the small homesteads and the parsonage. This was a seemingly perfect place for a person like Carl to take hold. The pacing of the story was a little slow in the beginning as everything was being set up; however, once Carl's intentions were clear and Maddie began to figure him out, I was enveloped in the many twists and turns. With an unexpected ending, Winter's Reckoning is an intriguing and hopeful read.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
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