Highland Hopes

A wonderful story - makes you feel as if you know the family. You hurt with them and triumph at their good fortunes. The story of family stuggles - some good and some bad, but staying a family throughtout all hardships. It's hard to put down, hard to finish that last page knowing you may not see their lives again. Reading makes you realize what is important in life....It's a wonderful book for everyone to read and enjoy.

Great book! Highland Hopes will draw you in to each character and will make you feel as though you are there with them. I am looking forward to reading the sequel to this book.

Highland Hopes, the first book of the Blue Ridge Legacy series, reads more like Catherine Marshall's classic, "Christy". The prologue's modern setting makes it clear that you are about to hear the story of a life. That life begins as a mother's ends in childbirth. Parker's pages turn quickly from the deathbed to full-blooded life. There's fast-paced action as mountain moonshiners face off with government revenuers, gambling exacts a heavy toll on an already impoverished family, and World War II patriotism pulls young men from the Carolina hills to the blood soaked battlefields of Europe. The romantic soul will wrench as hearts are broken and lifelong unions are made. The author relates the story in the third person, but often changes the character through whose eye's he views the events occurring. Parker proves equally adept at voicing the innermost thoughts of both his male and female characters.Highland Hopes takes you through Abigail Porter's childhood years, years that she learns to love her Blue Springs Mountain home, and years that she learns to love her father, even though she feels distinctly unrequited in her affection. She dreams of learning to read, that she might know all about the big wide world of Asheville and beyond. Her young desires grow into a yearning to leave the mountain and better herself, but there is always a tangible pull toward the hills of her birth. The first twenty-nine years of Abby's life take the reader quickly and poignantly from the new dawn of the 20th century in the ageless Blue Ridge Mountains to a definable turning point at the age of twenty-nine, when she finally feels her father's love.The pages of this copy of Highland Hopes are indelibly marked with coffee and tear stains -- a sure reminder of long late night reads and the powerful emotions that this tale evoked. I, for one, am eagerly anticipating the second book in the Blue Ridge Legacy, where Granny Abby will unfold more of her beautiful Blue Ridge memories.--- reviewed by Lori for Christian Bookshelf

I have enjoyed every novel I've read that Gary Parker has written. This was no exception. Great story line. Each character truly had his/her own personality and it was easy to feel like you were inside Abby's head sometimes. I highly recommend it.

My family originated from the highlands and through intense geneology I know I have highlander blood. This book wakes up that part of your soul. Although the author writes theology text as well, this book is not over done in religous aspects the religion is a natural part of the flow of the story. It reafirms your belief in God as a part of nature and not as a burden. Abby could have easily been my mother or grandmother, and I felt a great connection. Although this book is long, I can't wait until the next one comes out.......