What Momma Left Behind by Cindy Sproles is an unexpected treasure. The more I read, the more surpised I found myself at the depth of this plot! So good!

Worie Dressar lives with her mom in the Appalachian Mountains in 1877. One morning she finds her mother on a blood soaked mattress with what looks like suicide. But Worie knows her mother would never take her own life. As the plot thickens, Worie finds much that her mother had hidden. Including all the children she was feeding.

Picking up the pieces while fighting to keep her home and feed the ever increasing number of children, Worie has to grow up fast and lay aside some of her long held dreams in favor of longer lasting love.

This book was a delightful surprise. It moves quickly and just when I thought the plot had climaxed, it plunged again pulling me deeper into it.

Character development was fascinating. While each main character faced an identity change and crisis, none handled it the same. Sproles captured the inner struggle and displayed what was in each heart.

Great work Ms. Sproles!