The Mending of Lillian Cathleen Review and Giveaway!

Posted by abakersp in Historical / 8 Comments

About the Book

Book Title: The Mending of Lillian Cathleen

Author: Linda Brooks Davis

Genre: Historical

Release date: October, 2018

It’s 1914. American women are demanding the vote. And the first flames of the Great War are igniting Europe. But a battle of a different sort rages in Oklahoma.

The thermometer registers one hundred six degrees, an out-of-the-ordinary occurrence even for the twenty-eighth day of July. But this is no ordinary day.

The jury has reached a verdict.

Lily fidgets in the old church pew. Her name has clotted into a by-word. Her blood is tainted. Can she right the wrongs? Or will her past forever define her?

She eyes the judge. And the courtroom holds its breath.

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My Perspective

I cannot even imagine being Lily in that court room. Things were so different back in the early 1900’s, and think today a lot of women forget that. As much as we might complain, we have it pretty good today ladies. This book will remind you of the hardships that women used to got through simply based on their sex. I think the outcome of the trial was exactly that – based on that fact that Lily’s testimony was basically worthless because she was a woman. The book also brings to light some issues that not happened back then, but happen today too and the world probably doesn’t even realize it. There were some parts of the book that were difficult to read because it just breaks your heart. Linda Brooks Davis is not afraid to bring all the horrid things that happened back then to light, and I have to be honest that this book is not for the faint of heart.

That being said, what an emotional and wonderful read. Lily’s journey to rely on and love her Heavenly Father was a pleasure to read. I think sometimes when someone has a horrible earthly father (which struck a chord for me in a very personal way), it’s hard to remember that we still have a father who cares for us. We have someone we can call Daddy, talk to, cry with, and even laugh with. With this faith element woven throughout the entire book, it made it easier to read read the parts that broke my heart. Because in the end, God is in control. Through all the good and the bad.

This is a book that will move you. Yes there are difficult topics presented, however it is such a touching story that you cannot help but read on to see what is going to happen next. Being the second book in the series, there were a few times that I felt a tad bit lost, however I think for the most part it could be read as a stand alone. Historical fiction lovers will most likely devour the book once they start reading. I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

About the Author

Linda Brooks Davis was born and reared on a farm in Raymondville, a small Rio Grande Valley community in the southernmost tip of Texas. Linda earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Speech Pathology from Abilene Christian University and a Master’s Degree from Houston Baptist University. She retired in 2008 after forty years as a special educator and administrator. Linda and her beloved husband Al worship and minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio and dote on six grandchildren, three of whom are triplets. Readers may contact Linda through her website, www.lindabrooksdavis.com.

Linda’s debut novel, The Calling of Ella McFarland, is set in 1905 Indian Territory prior to Oklahoma statehood. It won the 2014 Jerry Jenkins Operation First Novel Award. It was released in 2015 and won the 2016 American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award. The sequel novella, A Christmas to Remember, is set in 1908 Oklahoma and released in December, 2016. A second novella, A Christmas Measure of Love, released in 2017. It is set in 1910 and is a prequel to Linda’s second full-length novel, this one set in 1914, The Mending of Lily Cathleen, which releases in 2018.

Guest Post from Linda

Certain ancestors and their experiences appear in my stories. There’s bit of my grandmother and a strong dash of my mother in one character. My father’s sterling qualities appear in another. And there’s a low-down family reprobate in another. Don’t forget cotton planting, hoeing, and harvest time. The glorious aroma of fresh-picked cotton and the nothing-in-the-world-like-it odor from the pig pen. A sewing machine whirring. The clink of a milk pail. A cow hollering to be milked. Summer’s sun on my face, the hearty South Texas wind in my hair, and the comfort of backing up to a wall heater on a cold winter morning. All find their way into the plot lines.

In my family’s history, my own life, and the kaleidoscope of lives in my stories, Jesus appears as the golden thread linking the past to the present and beyond. He turns an ordinary morning into a hint of the “Sweet By & By.” He adds the delicate aroma of the Rose of Sharon to the sultry stillness before a summer storm. And He wraps the bitterness of grief and failure in the richness of His incomparable grace. The Mending of Lillian Cathleen is one of those tales that reach beyond the ordinary to the extraordinary because of Jesus.

Lily’s story captures some of the heartache of domestic abuse, but it packs a powerfully joyous punch at the end. I thought I’d add a strong dash of sweet to this post with a recipe that appears in The Calling of Ella McFarland (which is re-releasing in October 2018). Mama’s (or Papa’s) Nectar of Heaven was a treat my mother enjoyed as a child. She set the same yummy delicacy before her kids, and I, of course, have done the same. Here ’tis, ya’ll, from Texas with sweet, sweet love.

lillian cathleen recipe