Review of Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin

Rating: 5 Stars

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Synopsis from Bethany House: 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 eve after.

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.

Review: Wonderland Creek is a novel for book lovers.  Which of us can't connect to a main character who is a dreamer and a bookworm?  Haven't we all had certain novels that we just can't put down?  Wonderland Creek is one of those novels, and one of my favorites of the year.  I know without a doubt that I will read it again.  The humor, quirkiness, and mystery that made Lynn Austin's A Proper Pursuit one of my favorite books is also present in this novel.  True to her trademark style, Austin incorporates a few stories into one satisfying plot. Mystery and danger are woven throughout the plot with some surprising twists to keep the pages turning.  

I loved the setting and the characters of Wonderland Creek.  Alice is an endearing and very relatable heroine, whose story has all of the elements that she adores in a good book.  The cast of characters in the backwoods "Christy"-like town of Acorn, Kentucky are no less satisfying.  From the 100 year old Lilly to a horse with its own mind, the inhabitants of Acorn are rich in personality.  Of course every heroine needs her hero, and Alice Grace is no exception.  The outcome of her story left me sighing a contented "ahh" even as I longed for the book to continue. 

Read an Excerpt:

Wonderland Creek