Heart-Wrenching Story
Healing Montana Sky is an emotional roller coaster
This is the heart-wrenching story of two families from totally different backgrounds and social standings thrown into desperate circumstances by the death of their spouses.
Through perseverance, patience, and love those families will form a new family unit made of love from forces beyond their control.
Emotions roll through this book from beginning to end. I felt sorrow, amazement at the resilience of the human spirit, and admiration. Ms. Holland’s talent as an author shines through. I could feel the sorrow running off the pages as I read of the death of the beloved spouses and felt each one’s desperation as they tried to find a solution to survival.
Antonia Valleau is an illiterate young woman, her speech is backwoods, her clothing is animal skin, poor in goods, but rich in spirit. She has buried her beloved trapper husband in the mountains and must now get her two young children to town to survive. Somehow she had to find a way for them to survive without her husband.
Erk Muth has just delivered twin calves when he finds his beloved wife, Daisy in hard labor, no time to fetch help, and must deliver the babe himself. Sadly, Daisy dies immediately after the birth. Erk rushes to town to find help for his barely living daughter.
A wet-nurse is needed immediately but none is found until they discover Antonia has come from the mountains with a young son still nursing.
It’s decided due to gossip and others ungodly opinions that they must marry for Antonia to stay and wet-nurse his child. Antonia finds the farm a wonder, as she has never seen such things; glass windows in the house, huge fancy barns, fancy cook stoves, and glass windows in the chicken house of all things. Antonia is a simple woman, but she has a good heart and is wise in the ways of living and raising children with love and confidence.
Antonia’s oldest son, Henri’ will have many adjustments to make in his new life in the civilized world.This is beginning of the greatest journey of their lives. From this beginning will come love, security and a new family, but they will have to overcome many obstacles before that can occur.
Grief is so very heavy in this family, and grief does not go away overnight. Erk must also learn to forgive himself for not finding his wife in time to save her.
Ms. Holland did a wonderful job of reconciling their feelings for each other while still honoring their deceased beloved spouses. God is in his heaven and gave the human spirit the ability to overcome grief in His time and hour. The pacing of this story was excellent; I could not put the book down. This is a marvelous story of strength, redemption, and love.
I received this book from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an honest book review.
Book reviews of any novel are dependent on the book review author’s opinion; book reviews on line under my name are my opinion.