When the Heart Heals by Ann Shorey - REVIEWED

About the Book: (from Revell Publishing)

In a country healing from war, can a young woman find healing for her heart?

Courageous and unconventional, Rosemary Saxon served as a nurse during the Civil War, a service that has caused most women in town to regard her as unfeminine and even downright vulgar. Although she would like to put that part of her life behind her, she needs to support herself. She takes a nursing position with Dr. Elijah Stewart, but whenever they are together they always seem to do or say the wrong things. When someone threatens Rosemary, will she find the courage to stand, or will she leave town-and Elijah-forever?

With tenderness and grace, Ann Shorey invites you back to the town of Noble Springs, Missouri, for an engrossing story of love’s tentative first steps and fragile future in the face of opposition.

My Thoughts:

Rosemary Saxon is a character that is courageous, generous, loving and, well, stubborn as a mule.  I was drawn to Rosemary from the very beginning of Ann Shorey’s novel, When the Heart Heals.  As I learned of her past and the hurts that her wounded heart carried, I began to understand why she was hesitant to let anyone get close to her.  Yet her love for others almost spilled out of every pore of her being.  She loved family and friends fiercely and loyally. Her stubbornness, however, proved to be her Achilles heel.  Rosemary was quick to decide others’ intentions and acted and reacted defensively and sometimes pridefully. She is a very multidimensional character that I found both intriguing and frustrating.

Rosemary had served in the Civil War as a nurse, and when she chose to pursue a position working for Dr. Elijah Stewart she discovered more than a love for nursing.  She and Elijah were like oil and water most of the time, and Rosemary stumbled over her owns stubborn pride more than once as she attempted to work for the good Doctor.  Honestly, I just about gave up on anything positive taking place in Rosemary’s life in the course of this story.

Ann Shorey tells a mesmerizing story and weaves many types of personalities, circumstances and relationships throughout the novel.  In no time at all you have lost track of everything going on around you and find yourself firmly planted in Noble Springs, Missouri.  And this story is anything but predictable!  Many unexpected things take place between the pages of this novel!  I am happy to recommend When the Heart Heals to everyone, with just one word of caution…don’t be as stubborn as Rosemary Saxon! 

About the Author:

Ann Shorey is the author of Where Wildflowers Bloom, The Edge of Light, The Promise of Morning, and The Dawn of a Dream. She has also published selections in the Cup of Comfort series and in Chicken Soup for the Grandma's Soul. Ann and her husband make their home in southwestern Oregon.