Eastern Kentucky, 1937. After the death of her husband, Ada Donovan returned home to live again with her aging parents. She does all she can to help them keep the small family farm going. But times are hard, and there’s never enough.During one of her infrequent visits to town, she sees a help-wanted notice for the Pack Horse Librarian Project, seeking librarians to ride up high in the mountains … in the mountains and bring books to the people there. Before her marriage, Ada was a teacher, and the thought of returning to the work she loved is impossible to resist. The mountains are her favorite place, books are her great joy, and her horse is her best friend.
But not everyone on the mountain is happy to see her.
Living in a crumbing cabin at the highest, most isolated point of Ada’s route, there’s a family that catches her attention. The father keeps to the shadows. There is no mother to dote on the happy, curious children. But soon Ada comes to love them just as fiercely as the woman they lost.
And makes it her mission to bring them the world.
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**re-read 08/11/2020 via Audible & Audiobook Boom**
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Carry the World will always share a special place in my heart because it was my first Historical Romance but what I did not anticipate was to love this story even more!! The audio version gave the characters more depth, heart and it was as if I could feel the love, they shared through the narrators voice. Still 5+ stars easy!!
**original review 07/24/2020**
First historical romance EVER and I could not have loved it any more than I did. Carry the World is a top 2020 read for sure and maybe even a favorite of all time. Fanetti’s writing was so beautiful that I did not want to stop. Ada and Jonah made this story for me, of course but all the supporting characters especially Bluebird gave this story such good depth. Despite all the hard times, gut wrenching moments and heartache this was such a beautiful love story not just for Ada and Jonah. This was a love story of a family coming together in hard times and not giving up on the life that they want to build. Nothing I say could do this book the justice it deserves and that is coming from someone who has never read a historical romance until now and was not too sure about it. Highly recommend this book!!
This newest, stand alone, historical romance from Susan Fanetti made me cry big, fat, ugly, happy tears. It’s so wistful in its unique account of one woman’s compassionate fight to educate the world through companionship, kindness, and care. And how that fight leads her to the biggest fight of all in her life – earning the love, respect, and trust from people for whom she comes to care about more than anything. This woman is made of steel and thoughtfulness unwavering in her belief to contribute to a greater good, something bigger than herself in a time where women weren’t really encouraged to do such a thing. Her plight is inspirational. And the story within the pages of Carry the World is as nostalgic and important as it is absolutely beautiful and hopeful.
I’m once again in awe of the way Susan Fanetti chooses to structure the telling her stories with such acute detail and depth of emotion. We see each of the characters vastly different worlds through the others eyes making it really raw, unexpected, and natural. There’s a quaint naivety in learning about characters this way as their pitted into an understanding of experiences wholly newt to them while simultaneously unraveling for the reader in the same way. It forces the circumstances to become much more real while concurrently making the words, thoughts, and actions that much more honest. The romance is slow, soft, and lovely stemming from a larger picture which makes it that much more succinct and beautiful as it’s budding.
Undoubtedly, the strength and resilience present in this story was the ultimate highlight. It’s hard, because what Fanetti book isn’t, but as always there is no light without dark. And the hope garnered from this story through the fortitude of these well-developed, wonderful characters is unrivaled. This is something entirely fresh for Fanetti catalog and she added to her collection something positively wondrous. In an effort in keeping with that strength she always showcases we readers get a story unlike any other. It’s magnificent. Carry the World is a true joy to read.
This book is definitely a top read of the year. I don’t know if I have the right words to describe my feelings about this book. The writing was terrific. I was sucked in and could not stop reading. I loved everything about it – ada, Jonah, the children, the setting, the librarian angle, the supporting characters. This was a slow burn romance and an absolutely beautiful love story which grows in hard circumstances. Not only that, but the sense of community and neighbors helping neighbors in this story was beautiful as well. I wish I had the right words to make every person pick up this book and read it. The book is an experience and I’m so glad I took the journey and it left me with a warm, happy feeling. My review can’t do this book justice but I highly recommend it!