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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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.

My Review:

The Mending of Lillian Cathleen takes the reader on a journey back into a time in the world when women were in a desperate fight for fairer treatment. Be prepared for your temper to flare as the tangible injustice seeps from the pages. Lillian’s life has been a battle. Shortly before the age of 13, her father Walter beat her nearly to death. She was fortunate to be taken into the home of the people her family was sharecroppers for.  Years later when she is unable to get justice for her mother’s murder, she is desperate to save her crippled younger brother from the home she escaped. Through an action-packed course of events, Lillian finds herself on an even more dangerous path, as she learns of a human trafficking ring that is kidnapping underage girls and selling them into prostitution. It was definitely a wild ride.

While I am far from approving of how far the feminist movement has gone in today’s current world, I fully stand behind the initial goals and intents. When a woman can walk into a courtroom and give an eye witness account of a situation only to be rejected as a credible witness solely because she’s a woman– there’s a problem. It also angered me to read about the human trafficking, and how little was done about it despite how many people were aware of its existence. Instead of using the term “human trafficking” however, the book used the term “white slavery” and discussed the women being forced into prostitution. The word “sex” itself was never used. This book has a remarkable ability to move the reader’s heart to compassion towards the situations that the women faced.

This was a moving novel and one that was well worth the read. It reveals the danger of being a woman in 1914 America, and gives a better understanding to why women needed to fight for more equal treatment. I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author through Celebrate Lit. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.

Rating: 

Age Appropriateness/Content Warnings:

Although the language is kept clean and doesn’t go into detail, this book deals heavily with human sex trafficking and child abuse. Lillian was almost killed by her father before she turned 13. I would say this book is as clean as you can get for the topics it’s about, but they are still difficult topics to get into. I recommend for ages 15 and up.

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Blog Stops

Lady Ansel Book Vibes , October 18

Inklings and Notions, October 18

Multifarious, October 19

The Becca Files, October 19

The Lit Addict, October 20

Luv’N Lambert Life, October 20

D’S QUILTS & BOOKS, October 21

Real World Bible Study, October 21

Babbbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, October 22

Christian Bookaholic, October 22

God’s Little Bookworm , October 23

Godly Book Reviews, October 23

Reading Is My SuperPower, October 24

A Reader’s Brain, October 24

Maureen’s Musings, October 25

Baker Kella, October 25

Just the Write Escape, October 26

Mary Hake, October 26

Janice’s Book Reviews , October 27

A Baker’s Perspective, October 27

Bibliophile Reviews, October 28

Proud to Be an Autism Mom, October 28

Texas Book-aholic, October 29

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 29

Bigreadersite , October 30

Carpe Diem, October 31

Lis Loves Reading, October 31

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Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Linda is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d56e/the-mending-of-lillian-cathleen-celebration-tour-giveaway