Book Review: Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin

Excerpt: If my life were a book, no one would read it. People would say it was too boring, too predictable. A story told a million times. But I was perfectly content with my life - that is, until the pages of my story were ripped out before I had a chance to live happily ever after. Wonderland Creek, pg 7.

Back Cover: Alice Grace Ripley lives in a dream world, her nose stuck in a book. But the happily-ever-after life she's planned on suddenly falls apart when her boyfriend breaks up with her, accusing her of living in a world of fiction instead of the real one. To top it off, Alice loses her beloved library job because of cutbacks due to the Great Depression.

Longing to run from small-town gossip, Alice flees to the mountains of eastern Kentucky to deliver five boxes of donated books to the tiny coal-mining town of Acorn, a place with no running water, no electricity, and where the librarians ride ornery horses up steep mountain passes to deliver books. When Alice is forced to stay in Acorn far longer than she planned, she discovers that real-life adventure, mystery--and especially romance--may be far better than her humble dreams could have imagined.

My Review: The premise of Wonderland Creek really caught my attention. At the beginning of the novel, Alice's head is full of fluff. She's living in a make-believe world because all she does is read. Alice has the perfect job, as a librarian.  As much as I hate to admit it, I could completely relate to Alice. I love books, especially novels, and too often I find my head stuck in the clouds instead of living in reality. I loved the way that Alice grew as the story continued. She went from only reading about adventures to living one of her own. Many of the adventures were forced upon her, sometimes by gun point, but she learned what it really was to live. Lynn Austin did an amazing job with this novel. Her cast of characters were original and engaging. There were twists and turns along the way, and I was eager as anyone in the book to find out where that buried treasure was located, if it really existed at all. Wonderland Creek is a must read!

My Rating:

My Recommendation: I highly recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.