The Daughters of Jim Farrell by Sylvia Bambola begins with the oldest of the three daughters trying yet again to convince her younger sisters to pool their savings to hire a Pinkerton agent to clear their father's name. Kate Farrell wants freedom from the covering of shame under which the family now dwells since her father was hanged for murder. Her mother tells her to let it go and trust God for vindication. Virginia, the middle daughter, wants to start a liberal weekly newspaper and has been saving money to buy a printing press. The youngest daughter, Charlotte, longs to marry her fiancé and begin her new life as a genteel lady of prominence. The family lives in a coal mining community in Pennsylvania but now takes in boarders as their means of income.
The story was told from the viewpoint of the daughters. Each daughter had her own personality which was well-developed throughout the story. I didn't like Charlotte very much at the beginning, but over the course of the story as her character developed, I found myself cheering for her and admiring the person she was becoming. I liked Kate and Virginia from the beginning, but even more so as they also grew and matured. Each of the young ladies revealed traits found in everyone and was therefore very believable. Their mother was the calm voice of reason on multiple occasions and had exceptional advice and wisdom. There were plenty of other characters in the story but not so many that it was confusing.
The only real negative I noticed was some editing issues such as warn instead of worn, that instead of than, etc. Otherwise, I felt this was a wonderful book. It was not a book to be read quickly as there was too much depth to the book to absorb it rapidly. The story had a mystery, and I was still guessing until the very end. The message of embracing forgiveness and abandoning bitterness was woven throughout the story. Early in the book, Kate's mother told her, "You'll never have the peace you seek if you allow bitterness to grow. I beg you, Kate, don't compound one sin with another." (39) Ms. Bambola obviously researched her topic well and gave excellent descriptions and depictions of the coal mining community and industry. Well done, Ms. Bambola!
I received a copy of this book through The Book Club Network in exchange for my honest review.
The story was told from the viewpoint of the daughters. Each daughter had her own personality which was well-developed throughout the story. I didn't like Charlotte very much at the beginning, but over the course of the story as her character developed, I found myself cheering for her and admiring the person she was becoming. I liked Kate and Virginia from the beginning, but even more so as they also grew and matured. Each of the young ladies revealed traits found in everyone and was therefore very believable. Their mother was the calm voice of reason on multiple occasions and had exceptional advice and wisdom. There were plenty of other characters in the story but not so many that it was confusing.
The only real negative I noticed was some editing issues such as warn instead of worn, that instead of than, etc. Otherwise, I felt this was a wonderful book. It was not a book to be read quickly as there was too much depth to the book to absorb it rapidly. The story had a mystery, and I was still guessing until the very end. The message of embracing forgiveness and abandoning bitterness was woven throughout the story. Early in the book, Kate's mother told her, "You'll never have the peace you seek if you allow bitterness to grow. I beg you, Kate, don't compound one sin with another." (39) Ms. Bambola obviously researched her topic well and gave excellent descriptions and depictions of the coal mining community and industry. Well done, Ms. Bambola!
I received a copy of this book through The Book Club Network in exchange for my honest review.
