Leigh's Views

This book is a slow and gentle read. When I was part way into the story, I had to double-check because this just didn't feel like a novel to me. This read more like a diary, Cora's private thoughts as she journaled out what she felt were the important moments of her life. While it didn't appear anything dramatic happened, this tale winds around the simple mountain life. Hardships, trials, family, and faith all weave together to mold this woman's heart and mind. Most interesting were the bits of outside events that filtered into this isolated community - the Civil War, WWI, the Spanish Flu, to name a few. This story is reminiscent of several others I've read over the years. Accounts of old-fashioned values that were the backbone of America for so long. These pockets of society which were often shunned because of their 'backward' ways. Yet, there are lessons to be learned -  perseverance in the face of tragedy, flexibility in all seasons, redemption from mista