Customer Reviews

Kathryn: Days of Struggle and Triumph (Daughters of Courage)

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This is a well written historical romance. Kathryn is a seventeen year-old only child and has moved to the middle of nowhere with her preacher father. As one who has experienced the dessert, I can appreciate the vivid descriptions and hardships one encounters there. The two things she desires is God's will and beauty.
She sticks with being in contact with God throughout, but like most teenage girls she struggles with her own beauty. She finds fault with her hair and her chin.
The author's feelings for the land is very evident, and her relating to the inter and outer struggles of a young woman in a hash environment are realistic.
The mystery is well plotted with just enough clues to have a pretty good idea who the culprit will be, and the romance is emotional without being over done. The Scripture references are appropriate for the plot lines. The preaching and evangelizing are a bit modern for the novel's time period. Hymn choices fit the occasions very well. The characters do grow and the ending is satisfactory.

Kathryn - Days of Struggle and Triumph - is book one in Donna Fletcher Crow's Daughters of Courage series. Kathryn is seventeen when she settles in Kuna, Idaho. It's not an easy move for her to make - and soon she is missing her former home in Nebraska. There's plenty to adjust to in a harsh dessert landscape occupied by snakes and flies and sagebrush. But Kathryn faces her trials with courage, knowing that God has placed her there for a reason. Soon she has friends and in time Kathryn finds love blooming where nothing grows easily. I found this sweet historical a joy to read.

Moving at any time can be frustrating and even frightening. But when Kathryn is forced to leave Nebraska at the turn of the century and move to Idaho, she must also say goodbye to friends, community, and everything familiar. As she takes tentative steps forward, hoping to establish new roots and new relationships, little does she know that those new relationship may well include romance.

I loved this book. It paints a fabulous picture of how our pioneer ancestors survived and conquered the land they set out to farm. Kathryn, the preacher's daughter, is indomitable, and Merrick is a wonderful hero, redeemed by God's grace and Kathryn's love. Highly recommended.