PRAISE FOR THE WHISPERING OF THE WILLOWS: Best book I have read in a while. Didn't want it to end. Great and different story line. - Christine This is a fantastic book that had me examining my own personal spiritual journey. Kudos to the author for writing such a heartfelt, inspiring work. - Verified Amazon Reader I absolutely loved the characters and the story. Their faith in God helped them through the trials they faced. The story is engrossing and very believable. Hope this book is a winner for the author. - Verified Purchaser The Whispering of the Willows is an inspiring story full of twists and turns, freedom and redemption, the expected and unexpected. This book brings to light the struggles of young woman past and present. God's goodness and provision flow from each page. --Linda Bottoms, Rocky Mountain Ministry Network Women's Ministries Director A 1920s' saga of Emerald Ashby coming of age. Set against the superstitions and old time religion in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, author Tonya Jewel Blessing tells a difficult, yet redemptive story of a blossoming young woman who is accompanied by her friends and her foes on a journey towards hope and healing. Love weaves through gut-wrenching circumstances and dismal poverty where Emerald Ashby grows strong despite grievous wrongs committed against her. In this desperate historical setting, mysterious disappearances lead to traps set for the innocent. Eighth grade Emie is about to learn some hard lessons when a disturbed young man is thrust into her life by her abusive father and enabling mother. Now, when key individuals begin carving out a rescue plan, Emerald Ashby sets a few of her own traps. It's a page turner. In this ailing town. What will be their measure of success? Cleverly suspenseful and sweetly spoken, the storyteller's unassuming voice transforms an Appalachian trail of tears into holy terror against an evil that stalks the innocent. In The Whispering of the Willows, an Appalachian marriage practice might be compared to the modern sex trade which exploits young females.If you like the emotive movie, Nell, or the writing of Chris Fabry's Dogwood, (a Lifetime movie) you will love The Whispering of the Willows. LCSH: Teenage girls--Abuse of--Fiction. | Rape victims--Fiction. | Abusive men--Fiction. | Poverty--Appalachian Region--Fiction. | Appalachian Region--History--20th century--Fiction. | Historical fiction. | Bildungsromans.