Appalachian Song by Michelle Shocklee

 

Bertie Jenkins has spent forty years serving as a midwife for her community in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Out of all the mothers she’s tended, none affects her more than the young teenager who shows up on her doorstep, injured, afraid, and expecting, one warm June day in 1943. As Bertie and her four sisters tenderly nurture Songbird back to health, the bond between the childless midwife and the motherless teen grows strong. But soon Songbird is forced to make a heartbreaking decision that will tear this little family apart.

Thirty years later, the day after his father’s funeral, Walker Wylie is stunned to learn he was adopted as an infant. The famous country singer enlists the help of adoption advocate Reese Chandler in the hopes of learning why he was abandoned by his birth parents. With the only clue he has in hand, Walker and Reese head deep into the Appalachian Mountains to track down Bertie Jenkins, the midwife who holds the secrets to Walker’s past.

About The Author

Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels, including COUNT THE NIGHTS BY STARS, winner of the 2023 Christianity Today Book Award in Fiction, and UNDER THE TULIP TREE, a Christy Award and Selah Award finalist. As a woman of mixed heritage--her father's family is Hispanic and her mother's roots go back to Germany--she has always celebrated diversity and feels it's important to see the world through the eyes of one another. Learning from the past and changing the future is why she writes historical fiction.

With both her sons grown, Michelle and her husband make their home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about.

Michelle loves hearing from readers! Connect with her at www.MichelleShocklee.com

 

My Review

This read is a beautiful gift that as it unfolds gives even more!

As the story begins in this beautiful setting, the beautiful Smoky Mountains, where these people take care of one another, but we hear shots, and what is found after is life changing.

This story focuses on adoption, but we are also with midwives, and two of them we meet and get to know, this is also a time slip read 1943 to 1973, and the two get pulled together when looking for answers.

This beautifully written story takes us on a journey for answers, and yes, they do come, and sadly, not always how you want them to.

This is a story that is full of love for those in need and those they call their own. We are also offered some really sweet romance, once we accept what is really important.

This is a read you don't want to miss!

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Tyndale Publishing, and was not required to give a positive review.