Book Review ~ Sugar Fork by Walt Larimore,M.D.




Historical Fiction

Back of the book:

This captivating story takes place in the Sugar Fork Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains wilderness during 1925-1926. Nate Randolph and his five unique daughters wrestle to survive after the death of Callie (his wife and their mother) as well as to maintain their farm, forests, family, and faith against an evil lumber company manager seeking to clear-cut their virgin woodland.

A cast of delightful characters, including gypsy siblings, Cherokee Indians, a granny midwife, a world-famous writer, and even a flesh-and blood Haint, join our heroine, sixteen-year-old Abbie Randolph, in her life-and-death struggle. Abbie falls in love for the first time, helps run the farm, and mothers her independent sisters while battling to preserve her faith when senseless murders threaten to destroy her family and way of life.

Will the Randolph family survive intact? Will the farm be saved? Only a miracle could make it happen.

With the march of the industrial age, especially industrial lumbering, the roaring twenties, Prohibition, the increasing momentum for a national park, and the onslaught of a modern world, trains and radio communication, the traditional life and ways of our Southern Highlanders were about to change forever.



About the author:
Website: www.DrWalt.com

Walt Larimore. MD, is one of America's best-known family physicians and had been listed in the Best Doctors in America, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare, the International Health Professionals of the Year, and Who's Who in America. His MD degree is from Louisiana State University and his Family Medicine residency was at Duke.

As an author, Dr. Larimore has written, co-written, or edited nearly thirty books, most of which are still in print, and several of which are best-sellers. He's authored four novels and garnered three Gold Medallion Book Award nominations, a Christianity Today Book of the Year Award, and a Retailers' Choice Book Award.

Dr. Larimore has also published over 600 articles in dozens of medical, lay, and Internet publications and he currently writes a bi-monthly column for "Significant Living" magazine.

Dr. Larimore practiced 4 years in the Smoky Mountains before moving to Central Florida to practice for 16 years. From 1993-1994 he served as the President of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians. In 1996, he was named America's Outstanding Family Medicine Educator by the American Academy of Family Physicians. In 2000, Dr. and Mrs. Larimore were named Educators of the Year by the Christian Medical Association.

In 2001 the Larimores relocated to Colorado where Dr. Larimore is now an author, educator, and medical journalist. He serves on the adjunct family medicine faculty of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver and the In His Image Family Medicine Residency in Tulsa, Oklahoma and as Medical Director for the Mission Medical Clinic in Colorado Springs.

From 1996 to 2001, Dr. Larimore hosted over 850 episodes of the daily, live Ask the Family Doctor show on Fox's Health Network--being awarded the prestigious "Gracie" Award by the American Women in Radio and Television. From 2002 to 2004, Dr. Larimore hosted the Focus on Your Family's Health's syndicated radio and TV features.

Dr. Larimore is a frequent guest about family health topics on a wide variety of television and radio programs and has appeared on The Today Show, CBS's Morning Show, several Fox News programs and CNN.

My thoughts:

I fell in love with this area of the Smoky Mountains in Dr. Larimore’s Bryson City novels. Now Dr. Larimore brings us back to the region and back in time. Sugar Fork is technically the sequel to Hazel Creek.  I read them out of order and did fine. However, if you have the chance I’d read them in order. It just fleshes the story out nicely.

I enjoy Dr. Larimore’s writing style. He has a gentle way of making you feel like you are an observer of the scene playing out before you. I could feel the chill of the mountain cabin and experience the heavy morning mountain air. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a gentle put you to sleep type of book. There is plenty of tension and suspense along with humor and a bit of romance.

In our modern life it is hard to imagine what Abbie and her family went through on a daily basis just to survive. Dealing with the elements took all of her strength then to add in some nefarious characters was really more than a normal person could bear. But Abbie isn’t a normal person. She’s a strong woman determined to not only see her family survive during these current conditions, but to thrive under them.

Grab yourself a hot cup of tea and snuggle up with this book. It will transport you back in time to the beginning of the industrial age in our nation and to an absolutely breathtaking section of our beautiful country.

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on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally
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