The Angels of Morgan Hill, by Donna Van Liere is an extremely sweet book that kept me turning the pages. The narrator shifts between a few characters but the principle narrator is Jane, a nine-year-old girl who has just lost her father. The story is set in the late 1940’s in a small town in Tennessee. The times are hard, the jobs are scarce, and life isn’t easy for the Gable family.
After Jane and John’s father dies, their mother, Fran, struggles to raise her kids while dealing with the news that there is another baby on the way. When a black family moves to town, the Gable family’s life is turned upside down. Fran forms a friendship with Addy, despite what people think.
I don’t want to give anything away but when the worst happens, the people of Morgan Hill come together to make things right. They are the Angels of Morgan Hill. The core group of characters are so wonderful to each other that it makes me long for a tight knit community like that.
While the ending was a little too neat and tidy, the story moved along at such a rapid pace, with so much happening in the span of a year, it was a relief to have a tidy ending! I didn’t know what to expect from Donna Van Liere but I can say that this is a beautiful story with some good lessons. It isn’t perfect but it’s worth a read.
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