By Rachel Fordham
Revell, 2020
332 pages
Amazon Description:
Six years ago, a shocking secret sent Agnes Pratt running in search of a new start. She found it in Penance, a rugged town of miners and lumberjacks in the Dakota Territory, where she became Miss Aggie, respected schoolteacher and confirmed old maid. But the past has a way of catching up with people.
When childhood friend and former sweetheart James Harris accepts a position as the town doctor, Aggie’s pleasantly predictable days suddenly become anything but. James wants to know why Agnes left behind the life they had dreamed of creating for themselves–but he is the one person who can never know.
In the shadows of the Black Hills, can a healing light be shed on the past? Or will the secret Agnes can’t seem to outrun destroy her chance at happiness?
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A Life Once Dreamed is Rachel Fordham’s most recent release, and since I liked her other two books I was excited to read it. My verdict of this book is that it’s fine. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like it as well as her previous books. The Hope of Azure Springs and Yours Truly, Thomas were great, but this book felt a little bit forced, particularly in the dialogue.
7 Historical Fiction Trilogies
I did like the story line and appreciated the history and the point she was trying to make about loving people for who they are. I also liked that I wasn’t sure what Agnes’s secret was until pretty far into the book, and I like it when I can’t guess what’s coming. And if you’ve read her other books like I have, you’ll probably notice a little nod to Azure Springs near the end.
In my opinion, readers of historical Christian fiction in general will like A Life Once Dreamed, because I did enjoy it, even if it wasn’t my favorite of her books. In fact, I do still plan to pick up whatever she writes next, and hopefully the dialogue in the next one will feel a little more natural.