Missouri Books

I've had this cookbook for years and my most recent purchase of it (used) was to get it for another foodie friend. It is a feast for the eyes, but also has wonderful recipes that are in my regular repertoire. The book also gives you wonderful ideas for presentation and combinations with other dishes.

I have had this cookbook since it was first published and I still find that it is one of the cookbooks that I reach for most often. Beautiful photography. I don't hesitate to try a new recipe on company as I've never had a failure. I consider it to be a "Classic".

This is one of those cookbooks that you can pick up hours before a dinner party, open it to any page, make the dish and have rave reviews. There are VERY few dishes in here that aren't good.

This is an older cookbook, but definitely worth looking into adding to your collection!

We would go hungry without this book! This is the cook book we use far and away more than any other. We have even started some family holiday traditions from the recipes i.e. the green beans with pears - amazing! You never have to worry about making a recipe because they are all fantastic. It is a regular gift from us and we have been told many times it's the receivers new favorite cook book as well. Buy it, it is any cook's must have!

Beyond Parsley is one cookbook I always have nearby -- and I have many, many cookbooks. I am renowned among my family members and friends for e-mailing special recipes -- and many have come from this special gem. I have too many favorites in the book to list but if I had to select just ONE, I would choose Cossack Cheese. That one is a WINNER in every respect, and has gained the love of people around the US to whom I have sent the recipe. D. Ray Fuller Jr., Dallas, Texas

This is a great book with great pictures of the birds. My boys were able to go straight to the color and find the bird we were looking for.

This is a great book. I got two bird feeders and was curious about the kinds of birds that were feeding. This book is easy to use, it lists birds by colors, it also says whether they are all year round, migratory, summer or winter. Very helpful for identifying the birds!!

After moving to Missouri for my husband's job, I was interested in all the colorful birds. I purchased this book and have been using it for about a year. It is easy to use and include brief descriptions and fun facts about each bird, as well as colorful photos and maps. The best thing is that the pages are color-coded so you aren't flipping through the whole book trying to find that one red bird you saw--you just flip to the red tab pages.

I came across this little gem by accident, found it in the local Missouri section while walking down the wrong aisle at B&N, rather than in the animal section. I picked it up and gave it a glance and didn't think twice about purchasing it or not.

It's practically a dictionary of local birds, each entry has a beautiful picture of the bird, both female and male. Includes important information for identification, what area of the state they prefer, what their eggs and nests look like, and much more.

I really like the color tabs. See a brown bird? Turn to the brown section for quick look up. Living in Missouri, I only recently took up an interest in feeding birds in my back yard and have purchased several books on the subject. This one is the best by far! It's easy to use, informative, and the pictures are of excellent quality!

I just started birdwatching, and this is the first book that I bought to help me along. It is arranged by bird color, which is great for beginners like me who have no idea what to look for. I would say that this is a great book for beginners, but maybe a bit too simple for people who have been birdwatching for awhile. I am about ready for a new book myself...

You don't have to be a fan of basketball to enjoy this book--but if you are you will love it. I wish all of todays athletes would read this book. These kids were a "one of a kind" team. Mr. Combs makes you feel as if you are sitting in the stands watching these games. I got so excited reading about the last game I could hardly stand it!! This would make a wonderful movie. Ron Howard, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, one of you please read this book!!!

What a wonderful book! Leon Combs is a great storyteller. Living in the Ozarks and near the Bradleyville area most all of my life I could really visualize the story. The characters and situations were like telling a part of my own family and hometown history. The play by play of the basketball games was like being there in that place and time. I would love to see it on the big screen! I'm ready for the next book Mr. Combs.

This author not only reveals the spirit of the sport, his colorful, descriptive narrative takes you into the very hearts of the players. Nostalgic, well-written story about a winning team, interwoven with games and statistics, makes this book a winner. Can't wait for the movie. It will happen.

I just read this wonderful book last weekend. My parents, Harlan and Betty House, were two of Bradleyville basketball's most enthusiastic followers. Both are mentioned in the book for a small portion of their contributions to the Bradleyville basketball program. The Bradleyville teams, those that were champions and those that were not, were made up of very special people--people who were willing to use all their god-given talents as best they could. With hard work they overcame their limited personal, family, and school resources. Bradleyville coaches were the best at enhancing the skills of their players and making a team out of very different individuals. The whole community was energized by the hard work and success of those winning teams. They were proud of the victories and the way their teams achieved those victories--by being great sportsmen. This book captures the spirit of the people, the players, the coaches, the community and the era. This story of our own Missouri "Hoosiers" will be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys an uplifting story about those who can prevail over long odds by hard work and fair play.

I live in the area and so the book is pretty special to me. The author has written an insightful story depicting the down/home special family quality of the Ozarks. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the raccoon-hunting point guard and the innocence of pre-Vietnam/early 60's rural society. There are too many good stories to spotlight but I really liked the one about the kids at the big Springfield tournament berating their coach for calling too many time-outs when they wanted to go coon-hunting through the hills that night the best. The Bradleyville people really shine in this book which is written with great authenticity and obvious personal experience adn affection. It's a work which deserves to be up there with the best of midwestern/western folk history-it ranks with the Milan basketball story and October Skies in my opinion any way.

Oddly enough this book sat on my shelf for over a year. I was inspired to give it a try after reading John Grisham' A Painted House during a recent vacation since it was based in the same era, local, and lifestyle as my father's childhood.

As a beneficiary of a couple of peach farmer generations, Mr. Tompkins has revealed what life was like before and after the peach bonanza in Campbell. I always felt that the peach orchard life was incredibly difficult. Now I realize that this hard life was an escape from the much more difficult life.

This excellent book is every American's history. There is such an honesty without the trappings of sugar coated memories.

I am taken back to a time I will never experience. In my mind's eye I can visualize the commitment, struggle, joy and heartbreak of a family bound together in their effort to survive. Many aspects of this book reveal the hardships and pleasures of our elders' daily life that we cannot imagine on our own.

This book offers the gift of understanding that deepens our respect for where they have been and how they have come to be who they are.

I recommend it to all who want to understand the fabric and true grit of this country. What a wonderful resource for youngsters in school to read, it lends a greater appreciation for all we have and how we got to this point.

An amazing journey indeed!

Mr. Tompkins' book is a great read! It was even more special to me, though, because my Grandpa Tot was one of the "O'Neals on the next farm over". Their house is in the background of the photo on page 269. Some of the stories, like the one about the "Wild Man of Crowley's Ridge" I can remember from my childhood. Others, though, are a fresh glimpse into history. I drive by the Old Tompkins Farm every day on my way to work. Now, I can not help but to try to visualize what it was like when Mr. Tompkins was growing up, there in the house on Riddle Hill.

Glenn Tompkins wrote this book from his heart. He told stories of how hard it was to survive in the 1930's and 1940's on Crowley's Ridge in Southeast Missouri. The struggles of that time made the family unit strong there was work to be done and you did it. The family never gave up. After getting the book from Glenn's son and daughter in law I found I could not put it down. The first day I read 95 pages. The true stories make you laugh and then cry and I feel I know the Tompkins family personally. I would recommend this book to anyone and I plan to pass it on to my family members to read. Thanks to Glenn for a job well done.

I am a librarian. In my library, I look over all the new acquisitions before they get shelved. Being around books all the time (and being in love with them) I have had to develop strong will-power to set aside interesting books, otherwise I'd never get my work done.

"The House on Riddle Hill" was powerful enough that even with my strong will-power, I was not able to set it down. There is something very honest about this book -- it is about real life, with all the seemingly simple happenings that have the ability to leave a mark in your heart. Here's a story that is a good example: Glenn got a few dollars to buy a pie at the country fair. He didn't have enough to buy the pies of the popular girls, but did get a mincemeat one (a kind he didn't like) from a girl who he hadn't thought of as pretty. But as they sat together and Glenn ate, she said to him so sincerely, "Thank you for buying my pie." They are simple stories, but they strike a heart chord.

I purchased my copy of the book at a book signing where I got to tell Mr. Tompkins how much I enjoyed it. He told me how at an earlier book signing, a woman came up surprised him by throwing her arms around him in a bear hug, and saying "After reading your book, I just feel like I know you!" I can understand this perfectly. "The House on Riddle Hill" is filled with love, so it just seems to bring it out in you.

I am not a fan of westerns but I received a copy of this book from a family member and once I opened it on the plane, I couldn't put it down. The characters are great and the story moves pretty quickly. I was captured by the plot and descriptions of the areas.
I would recommend this book to anyone, lovers of westerns or not.

When the sequel comes out, I will be buying a copy or two.

Rick

I found this book to be a very interesting snapshot of life in the mid-west during the 1800s. It was evident that the author did his research. His style is easy to read and most entertaining.

Great Western, much research went into this book, great plot, not your regular shoot 'um up western, the ending? I thought, "What did I just read?", went back and read it again. Very clever! Plan to read the book again. Can't wait for the sequel. Highly recommended to any reader.

The Margin
Life was tough for almost everyone after the Civil war. The economy was devasted, food supplies were depleated because both armies confiscated everything in their path just to survive. Homesteaders starting new lives prior to the war lost land, homes and businesses. Post war chaos opened the door to unscrupulous people who made their fortunes on the back of the pioneer. This is where The Missouri Riders begins. John Dee's mom is about to loose her farm to the bank. In despiration John Dee enlists the aid of two very close friends, all three men of good character. But, influenced by the emotion provoked by the apparent criminal confiscation of his mother's farm John Dee, Tom and Billy rob a bank. Motive, of course, to pay the mortgage. From this point the author, George Banks takes us through hard times and adventure as he pens this wonderful story of the three friends eluding the consequences of their unlawful deed.

After John Dee Tyler's Dad dies, he and his mom learn that the bank is going to foreclose on their farm. It seems there's a new manager who claims the note has gone unpaid for eight months. With no work available in the area John Dee hatches a plan with his two best friends Billy Ray Matthews and Tom Ballard.
As Billy Ray puts John's plan, "Now let me see if I got this straight. We find a bank, go play Jesse James, rob a bank to pay a bank, then come home and eat apple pie. Yeah, I like it! I'm in."
With the agreement struck and made, the three Missouri riders head south to Lexington, where, as legend has it, the James and Younger gang once robbed the very same bank they've targeted.
The robbery goes smoothly. No one is hurt and the boys make a clean getaway. Now all John Dee has to do is be patient and wait the 45 days before making the payment. No sense in hurrying matters and making everyone suspicious.
What John Dee doesn't know is that the new bank manager, Mr. Matting, already had plans for the Tyler farm, and when he pays the note, as they say in Missouri, all hell breaks loose.
With a sense of place that takes the reader easily back to those pre-twentieth century days when life was more simple but perhaps harsher in its demands, George Banks adeptly presents his story of three young men caught up in a tangled web of guilt and fear mixed well with a youthful need to have some fun.
With the Pinkertons investigating and getting closer, the boys make a hard decision. They'll go to San Antonio where a rancher they know is putting together a trail drive. By the time they finish working for him, it'll be safe to return home and see how things are going. Thus begins the exciting adventures of these Missouri riders.
George Banks certainly knows his subject, and the characters he creates are right out of the faraway past. As for history, he paints a picture so true to the times it's easy to "suspend disbelief" and live the tale with these three boys. A tale of life and adventure that make this book a pleasure to read for anyone at any age. Interspersed with pieces of historical fact, the book also serves as a good research tool.
I'm fascinated when John Dee explains how the original pioneers used a combination of feathers and wooden wedges and shims to pry great lengths of limestone apart before soaking them in water a couple of days and cutting them to needed lengths to build limestone fences on the treeless plains. This is just one of the many things I learned in reading this captivating book.
Velda BrothertonFly with the Mourning Dove

I read "Kings Row" when in high school many years ago. I decided to re-read it and enjoyed it even more the second time. This book allegedly was written about the small midwestern town where I live. It includes everything from first young love and loss to tragedy after tragedy. It is a real page turner. Great read.

There's a great movie, Kings Row, which I adored and after reading the reviews here, I was excited about reading the book. I found it well written but melancholy. For me it dragged on with not enough action and too much psychological meandering. My mind wandered often while reading page upon page of Parris Mitchell's thought processes as he wanders a field sorting out events of his past. It seems his life was destined to be filled with tragedies such as his best friend's amputation of both legs by a vicious doctor and his parents' and grandmothers' deaths. Even his romantic interests had sad demises. In between these tragic events, there are very few positive events detailed of good times that any normal human would experience. The town of Kings Row contains a mental institution vaguely described yet clearly a central location of the story. The entire book seems to be told with a certain hopelessness. Thankfully, it seems Parris' story has a hopeful ending with some resolution. I DO like the author enough to read the follow up novel, Parris Mitchell of Kings Row, in hopes of further resolution. What I gained from this book was the meaning of true friendship and loyalty.

I read Kings Row about 12 years ago and became a huge fan of Henry Bellaman. Kings Row is the kind of book that lives long in your mind and heart. He breathes life into the characters and you feel as though you know them each personally and would recognize them on the street. He knows the pulse of human emotion and the author is a psychologist, a man of spiritual depth and insight, and his words sing. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what it means to be human and how we fare in terms with the world around us and the inhabitants we come in contact with. I will never forget this marvelous book and have recommended it to many. Beautiful!

I had heard of KINGS ROW since the movie made from this 1940's bestseller featured Ronald Reagan as Drake in what Reagan considered his best role and the famous "where's the rest of me?" scene has been shown on television many times. I found an old paperback of the novel at a used book sale and was not expecting much but was very pleasantly surprised. The book is the story of two young men coming of age in small town Missouri in the years between 1890 and about 1910. There is enough scandal and "the sap of life" (as a New York Times review says on my old copy of the book) to satisfy the modern reader and Bellamann brings the entire town to vivid life as he peoples Kings Row with believable townspeople of all ages and walks of life. The author was sixty when the book was published in 1940 so he was a contemporary of his characters and the book is believed to have many autobiographical elements. At times the book is a bit slow paced and ponderous but Bellamann draws his characters so well and sympathetically that the reader is compelled to keep reading and there are some truly memorable and dramatic events in the story. I couldn't help but think how little has changed in the over one hundred years since the setting of the book and that perhaps the good old days and the people that lived them were not so good after all.

KINGS ROW may move you, stir you, shake you, shock you, stimulate you, reassure you, and inspire you. It is one of the few books that, like a true friend, I will return to often and never forget. It is a wonderful gift that transcends time and place.

Interspersed among the captivating narrative and rich characterizations are succint insightful meditative segments that sparkle like rare jewels and are brilliantly woven into the story.

My personal index of this book includes, in approximate order of appearance: angels, point of view, cage, science, intuition, mysticism, philosophy, struggle, vanity, *shining goal*, place in the universe, the conscious and the unconscious, multiple worlds, rivalry, piano music, control and order, discipline, *tryanny*, conformity, human nature, jealousy, things without faces, qualities, civilization, words versus voice, game, refuge, beauty, ugliness, money and power, mathematics, *design*, friendship.

Broadly and deeply erudite, astutely observant, and poetically articulate. FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, PLEASE DON'T MISS IT. And share it.

Great purchase, came extremely fast. Would buy from seller again. Wonderful condition and transaction.

It was too far between books to see how it all ended, but the book was great. I really enjoyed it.

I love all of Wanda Brunstetter's books. The books make you feel as if you are a part of them. Hard to put down.

Again this is a fabulous book by Wanda Brunstetter. She always has a great story line and I can't put them down. I think I have them all and I love to share them with other readers. You won't be disappointed in any of her story lines.

This is a wonderful book about an Amish girl and life lessons in love. Wanda Brunsetter know how to write and how to keep your interest all the way through. Recommend reading all of her books. You will never be dispointed.

I purchased this book for my son, a high school student who was assigned HUCKLEBERRY FINN in an American Studies class, and promptly fell in love with it. The commentary is delightful, and the many illustrations (many taken from the original edition,) photographs, prints, cartoons, and maps give a real sense of time and place. Homey details that might not be familiar to the modern reader are explained in some detail, as are customs of the time. The author includes material from Twain's notes and details about his life, always in a manner that illuminates the passage.

HUCKLEBERRY FINN frequently turns up on lists of banned books, and it's interesting to read of the controversy that dogged this story from the beginning. The particulars of readers' outraged sensibilities might change, but the response this book has always engendered suggests the timelessness of Twain's targets: ignorance, cruelty, hypocracy, racism. The story is a clear-eyed yet subversive look at a society in transition, and a relentless skewering of treasured myths concerning childhood. These themes remain as troubling today as they were in the 1840s, the supposed setting of the novel.

This book is an excellent resource for students and teachers, as well as for those of us who love Mark Twain's stories. The book itself is beautiful, with high quality paper and binding. A worthy addition to every library!

The greatest American novel, still. The country it sees is still in front of our eyes. The Americans it shows, we still are, though we live nearer to highways now than rivers. Twain's tale can be read both intellectually (yuck) as symbolic of the American quest for masterlessness (see Studies in Classic American Literature by D.H. Lawrence) and as a kid-on-a-raft-let's-see-what-happens story. Art and fun. Not an easy achievement to tie those two rascals together with one rope. Master of structure and flinger of fun though he be, the most exciting reason to read Twain is the language. The book is a hundred and sixteen years old, the writing ain't --"Steamboat captains is always rich, and get sixty dollars a month, and they don't care a cent what a thing costs, you know, long as they want it. Stick a candle in your pocket; I can't rest, Jim, till we give her a rummaging. Do you reckon Tom Sawyer would ever go by this thing? Not for pie, he wouldn't. He'd call it an adventure-that's what he'd call it; and he'd land on that wreck if it was his last act. And wouldn't he throw style into it?" --One caveat: Be careful the illustrations don't mess up the pictures the author can put in your head with his sentences.

Mark Twain at his best...great pictures and annotation...that are first rate. Due to time restraints, I have only skimmed the book. What I have read is great. It is a Norton book...always-great editions. If weight means anything, then this is a heavy-duty book. I look forward to reading the entire book after graduation in the spring. In addition, it even looks good on the shelf....

No repeats of the due praise by previous reviewers. If you have never read Huck Finn before, do not start here, the annotations would make it difficult to read with a curious eye to the margin notes breaking up the flow, like watching a DVD movie with the director comments turned on. But do come back when your done a non-annotated version (or even audio); travel down the river again with the annotations by your side, here as lengthy as the book over again, a whole new magical worlds awaits in the margins; you will discover the hidden depths and meanings of one of the most important literary works about America ever written. An amazing book lovingly produced.

Mark Twain opined that a classic is a book everyone wants to own but nobody reads!
However if you want to read Twain's best book with a full
critical apparatus, an introduction over 100 pages and excellent
illustrations this is the volume for you!
Anyone teaching Huckleberry Finn in high school or college should make use of Michael Patrick Hearn's well researched notes
which make this volume required reading.
I have read all of the Norton Annotated Classics and found this one (along with the Sherlock Holmes volume) the best.
Huckleberry Finn deals with the tragedy of 19th century slavery as Finn helps the black slave Jim escape down the mighty Mississippi river. In Huck's odyssey down the river he also travels from boyhood to manhood.
Twain's use of dialects is amazing as is his dissection of prebellum southern/southwest society rife with violence, bigotry, child abuse and cruelty.
Norton is to be commended for their series of classics opening up new ground for all students of Mark Twain. Excellent!

Book was received in excellent condition and in about 3-5 days, I was very satisfied with my purchase and most definitely will purchase from this vendor again.

Thank you!

I really enjoyed this book, just as I have enjoyed all the Torie books. Rhett MacPherson really has a talent for bringing her characters to life, warts and all, and keeping me waiting for the next book. I highly reocmmend this series to mystery fans, and even non-mystery fans who like interesting characters.

The only problem I had with my copy is that something went wrong, apparently in the binding process. Near the end, right when the murderer was being disclosed, every other page or two was not the page it was supposed to be. Instead there were pages from an entirely different book in an entirely different style--it seemed like some kind of victorian romance--sprinkled in where the real pages should have been. I could still figure out who did it, but I wish all the pages had been there. I wonder if that other book had Rhett MacPherson's pages?? It was very weird. Has anybody else encountered this?

Torie O'Shea is the central character in Rett MacPherson's series and to say the least, she is a hoot. Entertaining is an inadequate word. Torie is a genologist who has lived in the small Missouri town all her life and knows not only every citizen but their entire family history. And she uses that knowledge to solve the current mystery.

More than the process of solving crimes to the reader are the bumps along the road of Torie's antics and sometimes outrageous derring-do activites. She has a unique and loving relationship with her hubby, who understands and wrote the book on the word patience, and her children are challenging to put it midly. A totally entertaining read watching Torie navigate between the current family crisis, the need to move to an audacious adventure to solve the crime, and the guts and grits it takes to maintain her livlihood of museum curator and geneologist.

Torie is a busy lady and following her around while she navigates her daily non-routine existance is fun, fun, fun. You might want to go back and start at the beginning - or at least read a few earlier books to get the gist of the main character and her encounters, but any book you read you will laugh and muse, and when completed, the smile will still be there. You cannot help it, I promise.

Torie O'Shea, the resident historian of New Kassel, Missouri, learns that the old Kendall house is up for sale. According to local myth, three Kendall siblings committed suicide on that property in the 1920s. Torie would like to buy the house and preserve it for historical purposes; and at the same time, she wants to find out what REALLY happened to Rupert, Whalen, and Glory Anne Kendall. Readers are eager to go along for the ride, now that Torie's obnoxious stepfather is no longer the sheriff and therefore no longer a stumbling block to her investigations. By checking church records and newspaper obituaries, Torie begins to piece the information together. But does Glory still haunt the house? Whose blood is splattered on one of the bedroom walls? Can what Torie unearths and adds to the old police files really provide the full story on the Kendalls? Is it better to know or NOT to know?

Kudos to Rett MacPherson for giving us such a compelling mystery to follow! This episode is one of the best in the series, and any genealogist or historian will be fascinated with analyzing the details first-hand as they are uncovered. Surely further installments will follow Torie as she restores the Kendall house and makes it into the textile museum she dreams of. Can we even hope that Glory's ghost will make a personal appearance from time to time?

Died in the Wool by Rett MacPherson is further proof than an author can indeed start a series, create a number of works following the adventures and exploits of one individual, and still maintain the quality of the first book in said series. I have read eight Torie O'Shea Mysteries now, and to be honest, they just get better and better.

As with most of her other works, the setting is in a small river town, south of St. Louis. In this story, our heroine gets involved in a triple suicide that occurred shortly after the First World War. Three siblings, two brothers and a sister commit suicide within a very short time. Years later, as Torie plans to buy the wonderful old house and turn it into a quilting and fabric museum, she, as is her nature, comes across some very strange happenings, or coincidences as she accomplishes her genealogical research. Was it suicide, or was it murder? If you are a follower of this series, you will know that Torie just cannot leave a question, any question, unanswered. She may drive half a dozen people nuts, but she will find the answers she is looking for.

The Tories O'Shea Mysteries are cozy mysteries through and though. The author has certainly mastered this particular genre. In this work she has woven quilting, roses, genealogy, family, and the regular characters in her village into a nicely done little mystery that actually takes some thinking on the reader's part. The author has stayed true to her characters as with the other books in this series. Her writing style, rather than getting sloppy, as we often see in "series books" has improved...she is getting better and better with each novel. This is impressive, as I thought her first effort was quite out of the ordinary for a new author. Obviously a lot of research and time has gone into creating this delightful story. I do wish that more of our first line authors stuck with quality writing, and well thought out stories as MacPherson has with all of her novels. We would all be much better off for it.

For a nice, interesting, humorous, informative, and well...cozy read, I cannot recommend this one highly enough. Do be warned though, this is one of those that once you read the first couple of pages, you will be hooked and will find the book difficult to put down.

The Author brought to life real people who lived through a very important period in our nation's history. The Civil War played a major role in the lives of her ancestors and the author was able to express with realism how they were affected. A most interesting aspect of this tale shows how a town is split down the middle with one side supporting the Union Army and the other side the Confederates. The living conditions and family life during this period of our history is woven with color and flavor. Genealogy can be boring especially when it is not our own, however Carol Troestler makes the reader part of her family allowing the reader to experience their pain, their sorrow and their happiness.
Carol Troestler can be proud of her ancestors who made a significant contribution to this country.


Abe F. March
Author, To Beirut and Back

I followed this book as it was being written. My 10 seconds of fame come in the introduction. This story takes on the character of the writer, honest, compassionate, gentle, fun, passionate about writing and her family, past and present. It is an honor to be her friend. No foul language and therefore good for young people as well as those who appreciate clean language. I just ordered her second book, IOWA BORN AND BRED, from Amazon, and I think she is writing a third at this time.
Nancy Holum, Summerland Key, Florida

There was nothing even remotely uplifting about the Civil War, yet Carol Troestler's poignant and thoroughly researched novel about a Missouri family that experienced it firsthand gives a new focus.

We read about the Boothman family, based on her own ancestry, whose spirit and values go above and beyond the divisions within their chosen country, state, and town to achieve unity in family and nation through romance, marriage, birth and death.

Ms. Troestler describes eloquently the tensions produced in each member of the family by the warring factions of North and South, as the men or boys leave home to join one or the other side--the Union or the Confederate--and position for battle in the border state of Missouri.

As schools and churches close for the duration, Elizabeth "home schools" the children with a "play" to teach a history lesson about the lives of Lewis and Clark's expedition down the Missouri River to find a route to the Pacific. As a former teacher who often used this method, this reader found it delightful.

In another joyful moment that made her heart pound, Elizabeth dances the jig--an Irish dance she knew from her youth in Ireland--that also brought back memories of a time when I was part of an Irish Dancing Group.

Not allowing anything to totally destroy their family, not even suffering and death, moving to different states or far distances, Elizabeth Boothman's strong character gives the history an authenticity as she employs spiritual values and qualities of life that redeem an otherwise dreary and depressing moment in the history of America's struggle to become a united nation.

The question we cannot help but ask ourselves is "was the country already in the throes of a peaceful resolution of the evils of slavery, or was this a necessary war with all the suffering and loss of life it produced?"

Bringing the question to a different level--one that is very much in the minds of Americans today who face similar divisions and a war many do not support in a country not their own--Ms. Troestler describes with compassion the sorrow and emotional confusion of those Missouri soldiers who faced an "enemy" and found it was "themselves."

This is a novel that would be an important piece of literature in high schools and colleges to teach history because it is written with knowledge of the issues involved, not just facts, and with a human touch. Five brilliant stars.

Joyce Ann Edmondson
The Listening Tree

I just completed reading what I think had to be a very difficult book to write. The author provides a detailed history of her family; history requiring hours of research. Even with the many "in depth" details covering 264 pages, I found myself reading each page with ease and understanding.
Beginning in 1858 when the family of ten crossed the ocean seeking a new life in America, this pioneer family spans nearly 150 years of loving life yet the sorrow of too much death; death from the war, devastating fires and early childhood diseases.
Elizabeth was the early matriarch of the family being a strong-willed woman with great courage who would stand up to the strife of war, the jayhawkers, the vigilantes and of course the bushwhackers - each on different sides of the conflict but invading the area of Missouri where this family had settled. Even the town where they lived was divided in philosophy.
"Minnie" was the first baby born on American soil during the early part of the Civil War. When her mother was forced from their home by bushwhackers, Minnie made her appearance to the family on the banks of a coal mine. As she grew, became a mother, grandmother and great grandmother, she was to become the future matriarch. During her long, difficult life she came to realize the true meaning of freedom - the freedom they sought in this, the new land.
Minnie's final request during her last days was that her granddaughter, Alice release her own daughter from the controlling ways the mothers in the family had always demanded. Her final gift to her great granddaughter (Carol Troestler) was that she have the freedoms to live, play and love - those same freedoms the women of her family were denied. And, oh yes, the freedom to write - write a wonderful book about the Farrar Boothman family titled Flow On Sweet Missouri. It is a great read - Carol took a difficult accumulation of facts and molded them into words that flow like the mighty Missouri River itself. If you enjoy history, you will especially enjoy reading this wonderfully written book. I did.

As I read Carol Troestler's Flow On Sweet Missouri, I was impressed with her dedication to the story of her family, the mind boggling amount of research that she had to do, and the gentleness of her spirit.

When I was in high school, the class I most dreaded was American History. At that time American History was remembering dates and names that did not seem to connect to my life. It is too bad that we did not have Carol Troestler's book, Flow On Sweet Missouri, for reading at that time. Through her families struggles, you see both sides of the Civil War. It makes it real. It is not just dates and battles, but people surviving and dying on both sides.

Carol has written a magnificent book that should be in schools. Her documentation is wonderful. The songs and hymns of the time are accurate. Her research is without fault.

Many people have written books about their own family history. The difference with Carol Troestler's book is that you know where they were, what they thought, how they lived, their trials and their joys and how they all fitted within the politics of the times. It is a beautiful book!