56. This Promised Land. Cathy Gohlke. 2025. 358 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, christian fiction, general fiction, family]
First sentence: It was late in the season.
Premise/plot: Ginny Pickering Boyden is returning to her family home after almost five decades. Her family home is a Christmas tree farm, Wetherill Pickering's Christmas Tree Farm. She didn't leave under the best of circumstances--family drama, you see--and she never expected to come back again. Her plans are to be quick about it. Little does she know that this homecoming is a forever homecoming.
Why did she return? Her brother Harold's death. Turns out he's been lying to her for decades as well as lying to other family members. The tree farm is now hers....but what can she do with it?
Harold's two sons--Mark and Luke--are under the impression that they will inherit the Christmas tree farm. Luke and his wife, Bethany, do not have children. Mark has three children. Can they come together as a family to save the tree farm and be each other's true FAMILY?
This family saga has a handful of flashbacks to the 1940s but is primarily set in 1992. The main character, Ginny, is older (probably mid to late sixties). There's some romance, but, it's not the primary focus exactly.
This one is all about the healing of dyfunctional families, complex relationships, and forgiveness.
My thoughts: This Promised Land was a wonderful read. I loved getting to know the characters. I loved the flaws--in the characters, in the situation, the realness of the family dynamics. I loved how everyone came together and grew together. I love that it wasn't an easy process, that it was a journey, a struggle, that it required commitment and effort and time.
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