If I should list my favorite historical fiction authors, author Teri M. Brown is at the top of that list. After reading her debut novel, Sunflowers Beneath the Snow, two years ago and her second novel, An Enemy Like Me, last year, I was absolutely thrilled to learn about her third book, Daughters of Green Mountain Gap, coming out this January. And I was even more delighted when she reached out to me to be a part of her book tour and launch.
As someone who finds solace and joy in the pages of historical tales, Teri M. Brown’s storytelling prowess never fails to transport me to another time and place. In this blog post, I’m excited to share my thoughts on Daughters of Green Mountain Gap and provide you with easy access to where you can immerse yourself in this latest literary adventure. Let’s go!
Table of Contents
More About Daughters of Green Mountain Gap
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Date: January 23, 2024
Number of Pages: 324
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Book Synopsis: An Appalachian granny woman. A daughter on a crusade. A granddaughter caught between the two.
Maggie McCoury, a generational healer woman, relies on family traditions, folklore, and beliefs gleaned from a local Cherokee tribe. Her daughter, Carrie Ann, believes her university training holds the answers. As they clash over the use of roots, herbs, and a dash of mountain magic versus the medicine available in the town’s apothecary, Josie Mae doesn’t know whom to follow. But what happens when neither family traditions nor science can save the ones you love most?
Daughters of Green Mountain Gap weaves a compelling tale of Maggie, Carrie Ann, and Josie Mae, three generations of remarkable North Carolina women living at the turn of the twentieth century, shedding light on racism, fear of change, loss of traditions, and the intricate dynamics within a family. Author Teri M. Brown skillfully navigates the complexities of their lives, revealing that some questions are not as easy to answer as one might think.
Tags: family, friendship, strength, love, women’s fiction, racism, faith, religion, disease, healing, death, and grief.
Book Review of Daughters of Green Mountain Gap
Daughters of Green Mountain Gap is a heartwarming yet heartbreaking historical fiction novel that beautifully weaves together the intricate lives of three generations of strong women, each with their own unique perspectives on healing, religion, and faith.
Maggie McCoury, the fourth generation of granny woman in her family, is a kind and compassionate woman. Her healing methods, while not conventional, help heal the ailments of most people in her town. She relies on her learnings from the Cherokee people, herbs, and family traditions.
However, despite Maggie’s belief in traditional healing methods and her unique gift of healing, her daughter, Carrie Ann, has a polar opposite belief. She staunchly believes in modern science and all its medicinal methods She believes that her mother’s traditional methods are outdated and should be left in the past. Carrie Ann refuses to accept anything that has to do with natural herbs and folklore, even if her own daughter, Josie Mae, seems to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps and embraces the traditional method as well as science.
This clash of beliefs not only creates tension between Carrie Ann and her mother but also affects the relationship between Carrie Ann and Josie Mae. Josie Mae’s interest in both traditional healing methods and modern science puts her in the middle of the ongoing conflict, leaving her torn between her mother’s skepticism and her grandmother’s teachings.
In this character-driven tale, Teri M. Brown skillfully delves into the complexities of these three characters—Maggie, Carrie Ann, and Josie Mae—highlighting the internal struggles they face as they navigate their conflicting beliefs. Through vivid descriptions and poignant dialogues, Brown brings to life the emotional turmoil experienced by each family member as they grapple with their fears, doubts, and desires.
I loved Maggie. She is a wise woman who is never afraid of change and is always ready to embrace it. Maggie’s resilience and open-mindedness to new experiences and perspectives make her an inspiring character to follow. Even Dr. Mckeithen, with all his Harvard medical knowledge, couldn’t help but want to learn a few things about Maggie’s herbs and unique healing abilities. Maggie shares a connection with all her patients and provides them with not only physical relief but also emotional support during difficult times.
Author Teri M. Brown creates rich, multidimensional, and well-developed characters. The McCoury women are fierce as they are strong willed. It was comical and ironic to read how these women—Maggie, Carrie Ann, and Josie Mae—are all very similar to one another yet very different. I loved and enjoyed seeing their strength and determination to push through and never give up.
Teri also briefly touches on some women’s issues, such as miscarriage and motherhood, and broadly on themes such as death, religion, grief, and family dynamics. Daughters of Green Mountain Gap invites readers to ponder the universal aspects of life and the delicate balance between science, nature, and faith, drawing parallels between the compassionate traditional methods of Maggie and the clinical approach of Dr. Mckeithen and Carrie Ann.
Teri M. Brown’s Daughters of Green Mountain Gap reminds readers that, while we may be different, there are similarities that bring us together. And instead of fighting against these differences, we should embrace them and discuss them together. I would rate the book a five out of five stars. The book is a great way to start the reading year right.
A Little on Author Teri M. Brown
Born in Athens, Greece, as an Air Force brat, Teri M. Brown graduated from UNC Greensboro. She began her writing career helping small businesses with content creation and published five nonfiction self-help books dealing with real estate and finance, receiving multiple awards.
In 2017, after winning the First Annual Anita Bloom Ornoff Award for Inspirational Short Story, she began writing fiction in earnest and published her debut novel in 2022, Sunflowers Beneath the Snow, a historical fiction set in Ukraine, which has won 12 awards, including Finalist in the 2023 Feathered Quill Book Awards for Women’s Fiction, 1st place 2022 Incipere Award for Historical Fiction, and 2022 Book Shelf Award Winner. Her second novel, published in 2023, An Enemy Like Me, takes place during WWII, winning 17 awards, including Finalist for the 2022 Hemingway CIBAs, Finalist for the NIEA in Military Fiction, and 1st Place BookFest Awards Spring 2023 for historical fiction.
Her latest novel, Daughters of Green Mountain Gap, a generational story about Appalachian healers, comes out in January 2024. Teri is a wife, mother, grandmother, and author who loves word games, reading, bumming on the beach, taking photos, singing in the shower, hunting for bargains, ballroom dancing, playing bridge, and mentoring others. Learn more at www.terimbrown.com.
You can also find her on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Pinterest | TikTok | YouTube
Where To Buy Daughters of Green Mountain Gap
Here are places you can find Daughters of Green Mountain Gap by Teri M. Brown.
Author Website | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Bookshop
Happy Reading!
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