This series picks up several years after the first Red River of the North series ends. We find the children of the first series graduating and thinking about life after school. The same cast of characters from Blessing are there, plus we meet Elizabeth Rogers from Minnesota. They suffer another death, rejoice over another birth, and continue to farm against the elements of nature. There isn't much new here. There isn't a lot of compelling conflict with these older versions of the Blessing characters. They certainly don't face the challenges that their parents did. I feel like this book is simply setting up the rest of the Return to Red River series. I'm already starting book 2, Believing the Dream, and hoping it deepens the story. If you've read the series up until now, you'll feel like you've spent time with old friends.
Another book read to the wife. She loves to be read to, she always has. Reading is one of the few things that we can do together. This seems to be a standard heading for me on my postings doesn't it?. We had read the series following this, so we were able to speculate on things about eventual outcomes in the book. This series is basically about Thorliff and his determination to go away to college. Diana liked the story, she took no time to determine that it should be a four star review. The next in the series is checked out of the library, so it may be a little while until we get to that one, but she wants to "read" it too.
