Friday Book Review - Jan Watson's newest Troublesome Creek addition

Skip Rock Shallows

By Jan Watson

 

Historical romance

Tyndale House Publishers

June 2012

ISBN: 9781414339146

$12.99

Reviewer's note: Jan Watson won the very first Operation: First Novel contest back in 2004 for Troublesome Creek the first book of this series. I was fascinated by her work because I had made the top ten in that contest with my very first novel.

 

Coal mine country of early twentieth century rural America is no place for a single woman. Certainly not for Lilly Corbett, even if she is the new doctor who is interning at Skip Rock coal camp. When Dr. Jones, Skip Rock’s old doc, passes away, Lilly is the only physician in the area. What does she have to do in order to be accepted? An accident that requires her surgical skills helps break the ice.

 

The death of Dr. Jones isn’t the only problem Lilly has. She was raised in a near-by community, but while years in Boston with her wealthy aunt and medical school might have changed her outside, but inside, she’s as much a daughter of the mountain country as they are. Fears and memories long-forgotten nightmares begin to reappear as she settles into the area and begins to feel at home. Not even a visit from her fiancé entices her to leave her internship early.

 

A certain miner has caught not only Lilly’s attention, but the suspicious mining crew. They’ve had it with dangerous working conditions and little pay. Who is this drifter, Joe Repp, who’s gained the trust of the foreman? Is he a government man or a company man? Neither are welcome. In a community so dogged that the school will stand empty rather than let a married woman teach, the old ways don’t step over the line into the twentieth century. Faith in God deep as suspicion; tracking every man’s marker; leaving no one behind, ever—these are the ways of miners and their families.

One secret’s revelation makes one of Skip Rock’s new residents welcome; the other secret may tear the community apart.

Jan Watson’s sixth novel is a beautifully detailed edition to the Troublesome Creek saga. Told in perfect period description, colorful colloquialism and costuming and setting will have you saying “forevermore!” in exasperation and looking around for Timmy, the Skip Rock scamp, long after the story is finished. For those who love historical America, the Kentucky coal-mining country, and faith-based romance from the heart, Skip Rock Shallows will satisfy each condition.

 

reviewed by Lisa Lickel

What kind of books do you plan on reading this year?

Mostly fiction?
A lot of non-fiction?
New authors?