Book Review - Beneath the Bending Skies Author: Jane Kirkpatrick

 

About the Book

Book: Beneath the Bending Skies

Author: Jane Kirkpatrick

Genre: Historical Fiction

Release date: September 6, 2022

Mollie Sheehan has spent much of her life striving to be a dutiful daughter and honor her father's wishes, even when doing so has led to one heartbreak after another. After all, what options does she truly have in 1860s Montana? But providing for her stepfamily during her father's long absences doesn't keep her from wishing for more.

When romance blooms between her and Peter Ronan, Mollie finally allows herself to hope for a brighter future--until her father voices his disapproval of the match and moves her to California to ensure the breakup. Still, time and providence are at work, even when circumstances are at their bleakest. Mollie may soon find that someone far greater than her father is in control of the course of her life--and that even the command to "honor thy father" has its limits.

New from New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick, Beneath the Bending Skies is a sweeping story of hospitality, destiny, and the bonds of family.

About the Author

If you'd like more information about me, please come visit my website at www.jkbooks.com and click on my blog. My dog also has a blog and you can find out what it's like to be Bodacious Bo, too. A monthly newsletter called Story Sparks is my way of sharing books about authors I enjoy as well as commenting on life and love. You'll find out more about me than you probably ever wanted to know!

One item not listed on my lists of books is my selection included in an anthology called "Crazy Woman Creek: Women Rewrite the American West" published by Houghton Mifflin I also have a piece in Storytellers II, a book published a few years ago by Multnomah Press and a few short selections in Daily Guideposts of a few years back. My first novella, "The Courting Quilt" is part of a collection that made the New York Times bestsellers September 2011 in a collection called Log Cabin Christmas. The rest of my writing, as they say, is history. Or it was until my first contemporary came out this fall. Called Barcelona Calling, it's the story of a writer who loses her way as she seeks fulfillment thinking she'll find it with fame. It's a laugh out loud book according to reviewers. I hope you'll enjoy it.

My Thoughts

Beneath the Bending Skies is a Historical Fiction story that is written by  Jane Kirkpatrick. I love reading this author because she pays close attention to historical details and brings history alive through her writing. I was drawn into this story within the first few pages. Mollie Sheehan is young when we first meet her. Her mother has passed and her father is bringing her to a home while he tries to work something better out. Mollie's father comes back for her and they venture to a new location, and a new wife. Mollie is shocked at first when this happens but then she realizes that Ma Anne is what she needed. They spend a lot of time together since her father is gone a lot. 

Ma, Mollie, and Kate grow a lot through the story. We see them go on adventures and work together. Ma even supports the budding relationship with Peter Ronan, one of her father's friends. Peter started courting her when she was 14 and he was 24. Her father is very set against this relationship and moves them across the country to California to escape it. This story follows Mollie through her life - and it is so well well written that you will not want to put it down. 

This story is told in first person, through Mollie's eyes. The author has wrote some breathaking scenes and when you close your eyes you can feel like you are right there watching the story unfold. I had no idea this was based on a true historical figure. I will be reading the story it was based off of: Girl from the Gulches: Mary Ronan.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Revell Reads blogging program for allowing me to read a copy of this book - all thoughts are my own.