Christy Series: Family Secrets

This book is actually by C. Archer, as are the 11 other titles in the Christy fiction series. They are based on the characters and events in Catherine Marshall's bestselling novel, Christy which, in turn, is based on the earlier life of her mother, Leonora Wood, a missionary to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee after the turn of the century (1912, according to the book). El Pano is the fictional counterpart of Del Rio, Tennessee, and the real Cove up in the mountains near Del Rio can still be visited, with lots of signs leading the way. And Larry Myers, a descendent of one of the real people the book was based on, still lives there and welcomes visitors regularly. After reading the original 500-page novel of Christy, it gives the reader a very haunting feeling to visit the real locale it is based upon, as most of it has reverted back to nature at this point, with almost no one living there anymore. Back to this book - Family Secrets is a worthy addition (and edition) to this series, with the previous book (#7 / The Princess Club) being a bit of a letdown. In the book, Doctor MacNeill sells a parcel of his land to the Washingtons, a black family who wants to settle in Cutter Gap (a very white, "rednecky" backwoods mountain community) because their grandfather had always talked of someone there helping him escape slavery when he was young and of what a good place it was. However, they find the community to be anything but welcoming, with the book's main characters being the only ones not wanting to chase them out. Both the adults and the children are unfriendly and, at times, cruel to them. Of course, there is hope as the book goes on, with a few more of the characters deciding to give the Washingtons a chance, and even friendship. Standing on its own, this is quite a good book in the series - there are many lessons here about judging people by their outward appearance, standing up for what you know is right, and so on. However, another point about this book needs to be made. In the Christy television series, a new character is added to the cast in the second season. Daniel Scott (outstandingly played by Levar Burton of Roots, Star Trek, and Reading Rainbow fame) is a young black man who comes to Cutter Gap to study medicine under the able tutelage of Doctor MacNeill. His welcome by the community is almost identical to that of the Washingtons in this book - which, by the way, was published the year after the television series went off the air. Like the book, Dan Scott is ignored, threatened, and even (if I remember correctly) shot at by the people of Cutter Gap. Eventually, his cabin is even burned down - even though we later find out that the burning was accidentally caused by Creed Allen secretly smoking rabbit tobacco near it. In Family Secrets, the Washingtons' cabin also goes up in flames. Though Ms. Archer does an excellent job telling the story of the Washingtons in Cutter Gap, it seems that the ideas in the book are large

This book has a lot of mystery and suspense and IMHO is the best one in the series! Especially because of all the romantic scenes between Neil and Christy. I also teaches a valuable lesson about acceptance and love.