BOOK BY: Karen Barnett
This is a compelling story of finding family. And readers are presented with an interesting moral dilemma, which isn’t easily answered.
When Stone Wings Fly is a dual time story that follows Rosie and Keiren. Rosie lives in the Smoky Mountains at the time when the government was purchasing land to create the National Park. There are some fascinating details that are included in this story about the early beginnings of this particular park. Rosie is responsible for looking after her younger sister, who has Down Syndrome (though it wasn’t called that during the time period of this story in 1932). She’s young, tough, and more than capable of looking after them, though the work on their mountain farm is overwhelming.
Keiren has finally found her grandmother who is suffering from dementia. Determined to hold onto the only family she has left, Keiren would do anything to keep her grandmother in lucid moments. When her grandmother makes a request to find the stone bird her great grandmother had carved, Keiren sets off to find it in their ancestral home somewhere in the Smoky Mountains.
With park rules and federal laws in place, Keiren has a real dilemma. Though the stone bird is a family heirloom, it is hidden on federal land. What’s a person to do?
It presents an intriguing sub-plot involving a park historian who always does things by the book.
Great characters. Great storytelling. And a magnificent setting for this 2022 release.
I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.