Wildflower from Winter

Wildflowers from Winter

by Katie Ganshert

"A young architect at a prestigious Chicago firm, Bethany Quinn, has built the life she dreamed of during her trailer-park teen years. An unexpected call from her estranged mother reveals that tragedy has struck in her hometown and a reluctant Bethany is called back to rural Iowa.
Determined to pay her respects to her past while avoiding any emotional entanglements, she vows not to stay long. The unexpected in heritance of five hundred acres of farmland and a startling turn of events in Chicago forces Bethany to come up with a new plan.
Handsome farmhand Evan Price has taken care of the Quinn farm for years. When Bethany is left the land, Evan must fight her decisions to realize his own dreams. But even as he disagrees with Bethany's vision, Evan feels drawn to her and the pain she keeps so carefully locked away.
For Bethany, making peace with her past and the God of her childhood doesn't seem like the path to freedom. Is letting go the only way to new life, love, and a peace that she's not even sure exisits?"
Author, Katie Ganshert, pulled me in to this story within the first paragraph. How can you not be enticed to read a book when it starts with a twelve year old saying "I don't deny I swam to the bottom of the public swimming pool. I don't even deny I decided to stay there. I only defend my motives. My decision was muce less about escaping this world and much more about joining another." I could not help but want to read more, know more about her story.
Through the book you learn that something happened in Bethany's past that plagues her and whether she realizes it or not it determines her every decision in her present life. Bethany is a flawed character, she isn't perfect, she gets angry, she is real. I think at one point or another everyone can say they have felt the way Bethany feels. Confused, alone, mad.
I think this is a great read for anyone but especially those who have lost faith due to a trauma in their life. Maybe this book can help you gain perspective on why you feel the way you do. It definitely came in to my life at the right time.