When Cora sends Lucy into the hills to act as scribe for the mountain people, she is repelled by the primitive conditions and intellectual poverty she encounters. Few adults can read and write.
Born in those hills, Cora knows the plague of illiteracy. So does Brother Wyatt, a singing schoolmaster who travels through the hills. Involving Lucy and Wyatt, Cora hatches a plan to open the schoolhouses to adults on moonlit nights. The best way to combat poverty, she believes, is to eliminate illiteracy. But will the people come?
As Lucy emerges from a life in the shadows, she finds purpose; or maybe purpose finds her. With purpose comes answers to her questions, and something else she hadn't expected: love.
Inspired by the true events of the Moonlight Schools, this standalone novel from bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher brings to life the story that shocked the nation into taking adult literacy seriously. You'll finish the last page of this enthralling story with deep gratitude for the gift of reading.
The Moonlight School is the perfect example of how to seamlessly blend historical fact with fiction and create one compelling narrative.
This is not the first historical fiction I’ve read about the Kentucky moonlight schools but it is the first that truly swept me into the Appalachia life, and the dire need for education in that region.
I learned so much about Kentucky and the Appalachian people, their history, their traditions and their land. How their songs told stories: the good, the bad, and the ugly. How many of them were quite smart, even if they weren’t “educated”, and how they were good, hardworking people. Their quirks and superstitions and also their love and compassion for their own make them uniquely fascinating and I hate that they’ve gotten the stigma that they’ve gotten over the generations.
The reader is allowed insight into the minds of several characters, but Lucy, an city outsider, is the is the most dominant, and through her we see the Appalachia, and superintendent Cora Wilson Stewart’s fight for education, with fresh eyes. I definitely got Little House on the Prairie vibes, especially when you see how close the community is with one another, and there are several characters that won me over, but Wyatt’s quiet strength and wisdom stole my heart.
I immensely enjoyed this novel and love how Suzanne Woods Fisher does such a tremendous job of bringing stories to life, especially one that is seeped in history.
Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling, award winning author of fiction and non-fiction books about the Old Order Amish for Revell Books, host of the radio-show-turned-blog Amish Wisdom, a columnist for Christian Post and Cooking & Such magazine. Her interest in the Amish began with her grandfather, who was raised Plain. A theme in her books (her life!) is that you don’t have to “go Amish” to incorporate the principles of simple living. Suzanne lives in California with her family and raises puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. To her way of thinking, you just can't life too seriously when a puppy is tearing through your house with someone's underwear in its mouth.
Connect with Suzanne at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com
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