HIGHLAND HOPES

Historical Christian fiction aficionados will enjoy this first installment in Parker's Blue Ridge Legacy series introducing the Porter family, highlanders who eke out a hardscrabble existence in the coves and hollers of Blue Springs, N.C. in the early 1900s. Granny Abby opens the tale in a contemporary setting, spinning stories in mountain dialect to her great-granddaughter that detail the first third of her 100-plus years of living. Abby's difficult birth results in her mother's demise, and her father soon marries the comely Elsa Clack to comfort him and raise his young family. But a misplaced bet results in the loss of their homestead, and the new family unit begins to disintegrate. Abby dreams of an education and soon has the serendipitous means to accomplish her ambitions. Unhappily, leaving home leads to her downfall, as she becomes trapped in a troubled marriage with an affluent city slicker. Beautifully written passages describing the Blue Ridge Mountains will woo the reader, as will the charming dialect of the characters. The rushed pace of the last third of the novel is jarring, and some of the later characters are not fully developed. Parker's depictions of mountaineers fighting overseas are less satisfying than when he keeps the focus on Blue Springs. Bethany has a solid track record of hooking loyal Christian fans on its series, and teased by the promises in the epilogue, readers will likely go for the next installment. (Aug.)