ABOUT THE BOOK
“The Norgaard brothers and their families will steal your heart.” —Catherine West, author of Where Hope Begins
Heartache and regret, boldness and sacrifice. What will restoration cost the beloved Norgaard family?
Aven Norgaard understands courage. Orphaned within an Irish workhouse, then widowed at just nineteen, she voyaged to America where she was wooed and wed by Thor Norgaard, a Deaf man in rural Appalachia. That the Lord saw her along the winding journey and that Aven now carries Thor’s child are blessings beyond measure. Yet while Thor holds her heart, it is his younger brother and rival who haunts her memories. Haakon—whose selfish choices shattered her trust in him.
Having fled the farm after trying to take Aven as his own, Haakon sails on the North Atlantic ice trade where his soul is plagued with regrets that distance cannot heal. Not even the beautiful Norwegian woman he’s pursued can ease the torment. When the winds bear him home after four years away, Haakon finds the family on the brink of tragedy. A decades-old feud with the neighboring farm has wrenched them into the fiercest confrontation on Blackbird Mountain since the Civil War. Haakon’s cunning and strength hold the power to seal many fates, including Thor’s which is already at stake through a grave illness brought to him as the first prick of warfare.
Now Haakon faces the hardest choice of his life. One that shapes a battlefield where pride must be broken enough to be restored, and where a prodigal son may finally know the healing peace of surrender and the boundless gift of forgiveness. And when it comes to the woman he left behind in Norway, he just might discover that while his heart belongs to a daughter of the north, she’s been awaiting him on shores more distant than the land he’s fighting for.
From Christy Award–winning author Joanne Bischof comes Daughters of Northern Shores: the highly anticipated sequel to her moving novel Sons of Blackbird Mountain.
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: March 12, 2019
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES
MY REVIEW
Continuing the saga of the Norgaard family, Joanne Bischof’s Daughters of Northern Shores beautifully transports readers into historic Appalachia once again. It may not always be an easy story to experience, but it is worth the read.
Years have passed since the events of Sons of Blackbird Mountain, and now, the family must deal with feud, illness, and the return of the prodigal son. Amidst the heartache and difficulties, Bischof makes sure to include delightfully sweet moments, pointing toward the hope of powerful and much needed forgiveness, healing, and restoration.
The “lyrical writing, complex characterizations, and an exquisite, I-want-to-sink-into-this-story atmosphere” I found in the first book are equally present in Daughters of Northern Shores, and I heartily enjoyed it from beginning to end; it was a pleasure to journey with the Norgaards. I highly recommend it to readers of historical fiction (just be sure to read the first book first).
★★★★★
Thanks to Prism Book Tours, I received a complimentary copy of Daughters of Northern Shores and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.
EXCERPT
… the Virginia sun like melted gold through the treetops, brightening everything in its warm haze and piercing through the branches of the great maple overhead. A dance of light and childhood charm where nestled within the leaves sat the treehouse that had sheltered many an adventure for the Norgaard brothers.
While Aven’s climbing days were at a standstill, if she were to scale the makeshift ladder and settle against the rough trunk, she would see the three carved names. Jorgan. Thor. Haakon. Whittled into the living wood as boys when time and distance hadn’t changed them so. ’Twas just as well that she was land bound with child. She had no desire to see Haakon’s name, nor anything that reminded her of the man who had once been her friend but had proved himself anything but.
Seated below it all, Aven tugged her knit shawl closer against her shoulders and listened as Ida read to Sigurd from where they shared his blanket at the base of the great tree. A small pile of children’s tales lay near, and while Sigurd leaned an elbow on those, Aven kept her hands busy with the stitches on a nightdress for the coming baby. Though she could have finished the tiny collar at home, she’d followed along with Sigurd and Ida since she was as eager for an outing as the rambunctious boy.
Aven had her own fondness for this glen where Thor had first begun to claim her heart and hand. Never would she forget sitting on the treehouse platform while he tied together a string of buttons and, with a hint of shyness, slid the gift onto her wrist. They’d been far from lovers then, but it had been the beginning of a tender unfolding between them.
Taken from Daughters of Northern Shores by Joanne Bischof. Copyright © 2019 by Joanne Bischof. Used by permission of http://www.thomasnelson.com/.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GIVEAWAY
One winner will receive a print copy of Daughters of Northern Shores and a Thomas Nelson/Zondervan custom tote bag (book and bag shown are examples, not actual prize)
US only
Sounds like a great read love this cover.
ReplyDeleteBased on your review, I love the themes of this book and the writing sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteI live in the Applachian mountains and have biked on the Appalachian trail. Love this area! Book 1 in this series was one of my favorite 2018 reads.
ReplyDelete