Review: After the Fog by Kathleen Shoop

After the Fog by Kathleen Shoop
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Every May 6 is National Nurse's Day (Teacher's Day too!) with the following week celebrating these two great professions (of which I'm a part of both!). Kathleen Shoop has written her sophomore novel about Rose Pavlesic, a community health nurse working in Donora, Pennsylvania in the 1940's. The steel mills are what keeps Donora running and, due to the economy, Rose wonders what will keep her running monetarily. There is so much more work to do than there are medical professionals who can care for the citizens of Donora. When a new mill Superintendent moves to town, many changes begin to take place. Could he and his wife possibly fund the clinic that Rose has dreamed of all these years?

I must admit, I had a bit of difficulty getting into this story but once I did, it became hard to put it down. I found this to be a very enjoyable book but I want to explain why I gave it the rating that I did. First of all, historical fiction is my favorite genre of books to read. Ms. Shoop kept true to the historical accuracy of the 1940's. I did take some offense at the strong language and suggestive scenes (a couple of them became borderline erotic). I guess that took me a bit by surprise and has caused a slightly lower rating from me than I would have otherwise given.

Rose's character is very dynamic. She is a true Type A personality nurse. She puts her clients first and foremost, but at the expense of her family. How many of us in the field have done this to ourselves and our families? Nursing professionals truly do have a calling to do what they love but often times we fail to care for ourselves, thus finding it necessary to become a patient. I love how Ms. Shoop "got this" and was able to incorporate it into Rose's character.

I do recommend this book with warnings and reservations as previously mentioned. The story is incredible if you are able to look beyond the language (which I can) and the intense scenes (this was a bit much for me). I would like to encourage you to read the guest post by Ms. Shoop about her book and the Donora Fog. You may find that post here.

If you've read this book, what did you think?

Many thanks to Kim Cecere and Kathleen Shoop for providing this book for review.

View all my reviews

Book Blogger Awareness Week: A Sense of Community

This week celebrates the 4th year of Book Blogger Appreciation Week. The brain-child of Amy, from My Friend Amy, is to recognize the efforts of book bloggers worldwide. Complete with week-long activities, Amy has set up this fabulous week to network, promote book blogging, and honor those who go above and beyond by giving out awards! Best of wishes to all of those nominated in their respective categories!

I love that this year's theme is "Cultivating a Community of Bloggers and Readers". Throughout the week, participants will focus on building a wider community of bloggers and readers! I hope to grow from this experience and become a better blogger.

I would not even be blogging today had it not been for a beautiful woman who I just "ran into" on GoodReads. I had just joined the site and was looking for people close in proximity to my location. When I first began chatting with Margaret of Creative Madness she lived about 20 miles away. She was a newlywed who loved to read and as very encouraging to this "newbie" in the book blogging world. A few years ago, she lived just a stone throw's away down the street from me and was having her AppleBlossom. Then the news that her husband had been transferred resulted in a move to TN. Since moving away, she's now mommy to not only her beautiful AppleBlossom but now has OrangeBlossom! In betweeen her mommy duties, she still has time to read and encourage other bloggers. I appreciate you Margaret! Thank you for all you do for the community, especially those of of us who love Christian Historical Fiction! :)

Along the way, I've met some other fabulous people. One of my "sparring" partners is Renee. You can find her super comfy blog over at Black 'n Gold Girl's Book Blog. Renee is a fantastic young woman who tries to steal my Discarded Heroes! I really shouldn't be trying to steal any of these fine young men since I'm a happily married woman! Renee and I, along with Rel, Joy, and Lydia, can blow up Twitter on any given night talking about Ronie Kendig's fabulous books!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the person who re-introduced me to my love of reading. I read A LOT as a child but really slacked off through college and early days of marriage. When I started teaching, a young lady named Mindi brought me Twilight (no haters please!) after she learned that I liked to watch vampire movies. I read the whole book in a weekend and haven't stopped since then! Mindi is now a freshman in college and I hope to encourage her to keep her love of reading forever!!

I hope you all have a fantastic week of reading. I'll try to post more later this week. It's going to be a busy week with a thesis and presentation due, along with a day to write lesson plans for the GA Dept. of Ed. and a day of STEM training! I love and appreciate you all and hope you'll continue to read and visit my blog! :)