Reviewed by Martha Artyomenko
The book starts off with a somewhat creepy scene of a funeral and where you wonder if a soldier was buried alive…or not. Rachel Boyd is a young widowed mother of two sons. Her one son, Kurt keeps the local school teacher busy with his pranks and antics, while Rachel is stretched thin caring for her boys, a ranch and helping the local doctor with medical emergencies, in spite of her lack of trust for doctors. Her love of all things medical overcome.
Dr Rand Brookston has his own fears to conquer, the townspeople wonder at the large amount of lamp oil he goes through. As the town’s only doctor, he fights to keep the needed practice when there is a lack of money all around.
This book has alot of early Colorado history in it, history of medical practices, and early resorts. The romance in it is tame, but peppered with small amounts of insinuation, I wished had been left out. Without those small things, this would be an excellent book to recommend for the young teen reader, for historical fiction. Those few things, make it a bit hard though.
I liked how the author explained the mysteries early in the book, rather than keeping you in suspense most of it. Ms. Alexander is a talented writer and you could tell she had felt the pain of a loss herself, in her writing, which the summery at the end explained.
In conclusion, a well written historical fiction that with some editing by a parent would be good for a teen reader. – Martha
