Tracie Peterson/Kimberly Woodhouse

Dear Readers,

 

Tracie Peterson is an author that I don't read often.  It really has nothing to do with her writing, which is very good, but because she is so easy to recommend.  She writes on the same level with every book she publishes, whether she is writing on her own or if she joins with another author and writes along side them.

 

In All Things Hidden Tracie teams up with Kimberley Woodhouse.   Kimberley has written a few fiction books, but she is best known for her two book series she did with her daughter, Kayla.  They were contemporary mysteries, so a bit different than what she has written with Tracie.

 

We return to one of Tracie's favorite places to write about, the Alaskan frontier.   I don't believe it will be a series as I don't see a series title. This is an interesting read about Alaska and how during the depression President Roosevelt had the great idea of sending families to Alaska to help settle the frontier there.  Families that had lost everything and needed a fresh start.  The problem was there was very little preparation and it almost became a great disaster. 

 

Gwyn loves Alaska almost as much as she hates change, but change is coming to their quiet valley, Matanuska.  Gwyn's father Harold is excited about the chance to have new families in the area and has begun the push for a hospital so they will be able to care for the families that are coming. 

 

Along with the good families that really do want to settle the valley and have a second chance, come the few bad seeds.  Families that demand things are done a certain way or fear the natives of the area.  They sow some unrest in the settlement and may cause the whole thing to fall apart.   Will Harold, Gwyn and a few others be able to save the new town or will a killer among them ruin everything?

 

I was reading this gentle little tale in between times of reading a very emotionally difficult to read book.  It was fun to learn a little bit of what it was like in Alaska during the depression, but also how hard it was to get any supplies to Anchorage and then on to Matanuska.  It was fascinating to see what people though of as important.  Not things we think of a important, but just the basics. 

 

Those settlers had to work hard to get ready for winter and that included building their own houses, but also there had to be some way to help them get enough food to survive the winter months, vegetables and meat which had to be canned or dried.  It truly was a community effort to get this little town up and running.

 

Like I said this was just a lovely little read and a great way to spend some quiet time in a completely different state and time.

Happy Reading