A Song of Joy by Lauraine Snelling

Welcome!  Word to the Wise by Jenn McKinlay releases on September 3 along with The Spice King by Elizabeth Camden, A Night's Tail by Sofie Kelly and Listening to Love by Beth Wiseman.  Here Comes Santa Paws by Laurien Berenson comes out September 24.  It is A Melanie Travis Mystery Christmas novella.  I love reading Christmas cozy mysteries.

A Song of Joy by Lauraine Snelling returns readers to Minnesota in June of 1911.  Nilda Carlson has been given a great opportunity when she was hired to be the assistant to Mrs. Gertrude Schoenleber.  She takes lessons on manners, reading and writing English, and deportment.  Working with Mrs. Schoenleber she learns about business dealings and the importance of giving back to the community.  Nilda’s latest project is obtaining housing for logger’s families in Blackduck.  When the loggers depart for the camp, their families are left behind and Nilda wants to make sure that these immigrants do not suffer over the winter.  She will need to get donors to finance the project and the support of local citizens.  While Nilda enjoys her challenging new life, she also misses her family and the simple life of living on a farm.  One of the high points of Nilda’s week is piano lessons from Mrs. Schoenleber’s nephew, Fritz Larsson who also attends the socials she organizes.  But then a second suitor enters the picture who would offer a very different type of life to Nilda.  The only thing spoiling Nilda’s life is the Pinkerton agent investigating the death of Dreng Nygaard.  It brings back the horrible memories of what Dreng did to Nilda which has caused her nightmares to return.  Return to Under Northern Skies series with A Song of Joy.

A Song of Joy is the fourth novel in Under Northern Skies series.  I recommend reading this series in order, though, the author does summarize what happened in the previous books.  I thought A Song of Joy was well-written and it proceeds at a gentle pace.  I would have liked a little peppier pace because I did feel the story dragged in places.  We get to see what daily life is like for Nilda and for her family on the farm.  While A Song of Joy focuses on Nilda, I like that we get to catch-up with the family.  They are busy cutting trees, planting crops, taking care of the animals, and the numerous other daily chores on a farm. There are such wonderful, developed characters in the book, and I like the references to Ingeborg Bjorklund which has me looking forward to reading A Blessing to Cherish.  The author captured the time period with the clothing, events, books and the new technology.  Electricity, motorcars, and the typewriter are some of the new inventions mentioned in the book.  Nilda also learns shorthand to help her take notes at the quarterly company meetings.  I enjoyed watching Nilda grow over the course of the series and the ending left me happy.  This is a clean Christian novel.  We get to see how God plays into the lives of our characters.  They pray for guidance to make the right decisions and have faith that God will lead them in the right direction.  They are compassionate people who want to share their blessings.  A Song of Joy is a heartwarming novel with rich characters.   

A Song of Joy is available at Amazon along with the other three novels in Under Northern Skies series. A Blessing to Cherish comes out March 31, 2020.  You can find Lauraine Snelling's other novels here on Amazon.  Thank you for dropping by today.  I will be sharing my review of A Family's Heartbreak by Kitty Neale tomorrow.  I hope that you have an easygoing day.  Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader