Friday, July 6, 2018

MY HEART BELONGS IN CASTLE GATE, UTAH: LEANNA'S CHOICE by Angie Dicken


MY HEART BELONGS IN CASTLE GATE, UTAH: LEANNA'S CHOICE

Author(s): 
Dicken creates a sweet romance that portrays the very real prejudices that Americans had toward immigrants during the 1900s. This book puts into perspective the struggles individuals must face when they leave their own homes and adjust to life in a new country and the different class systems of the time. Our main characters will struggle to overcome the obstacles put in their way, not only from their families but from society as well. With well-written characters and descriptive scenes, the readers will get a clear mental picture, as well as feel many deep emotions.
Leanna McKee has every intention of leaving the coal-mining town of Castle Gate, Utah, after a mine collapse takes the life of her husband. The only thing keeping her there is a lack of funds and her teaching job where she educates the Greek children she has grown to love. Greek immigrants live on one side of town, Americans on the other, and never the two shall meet — except in the mine, of course. Until one day when Alex Pappas, a Greek miner who had tried to save her husband, comes by her house with his brother’s children. Alex's sister-in-law is on bed rest with her third child, and the family fears the fate of the children if they were to walk to school alone through the American side of town. The worst threat being from Leanna's neighbor, Coffey, who lives across the street. He constantly watches her and stirs up trouble for Alex with the other miners. Will Alex be Leanna's second chance at love, or will Coffey manage to run her off? (BARBOUR, Nov., 256 pp., $12.99)
Reviewed by: 
Jenny Falcone for RT Book Reviews