I love to read and normally average more than a book per week.  Recently, however, I have not taken the time to delve into a good book.  Perhaps it’s our recent move and crazy summer, perhaps it’s my newfound habit of blogging, or maybe it’s just because I normally read when I’m waiting for a child to finish music lessons or sports practice, all of which have been non-existent this summer.  So, the third book in the Lake Emily series by Traci DePree, Aprons on a Clothesline had been sitting unread on my bookshelf for several weeks. 

I was not disappointed however when I finally got the chance to sit down and revisit Lake Emily.   Mae and Trudy return, becoming a new mom and new wife respectively.  The drought that has come upon the area causes their husbands to worry.  But the book focuses mainly on Peter’s Grandmother, Virginia, who has suffered a stroke and must rely on her family to take care of her.  Because of the new baby and the increased work on the farm, Mae and Peter cannot bring Virginia home.  So Peter’s father, David, who is currently conducting the orchestra in AZ, makes the decision that Virginia must go into the nursing home until she is rehabilitated.  This sends Virginia, who has always been the one to hold the family together into depression and longing for her deceased husband Roy. 

Although familiar characters from the community do return, Ms. DePree relies less on their interaction with the main characters than in her previous two books from the series.  She also introduces three new characters into Virginia’s storyline, physical therapist Anna, friend and potential beau, August and Violet, an elderly woman who no longer speaks or responds to anyone.  The character histories that graced each chapter have been reduced to only a few and I found myself wanting more as it helps the reader to understand the decisions the characters make based on their past experiences.   

Ms. DePree does a wonderful job relating the struggles of farm life, but with the respect of an occupation that makes me want to go out and feed the chickens or milk a cow or two.  I found it funny that Peter looks into the refrigerator and asks Mae for milk.  She replies, “You’re a dairy farmer, honey.  We have lots of milk.” 

I like how she doesn’t always wrap up a character’s storyline in a neat little bundle and ending of “happily ever after” as so many Christian writers seem to do.  These characters suffer loss and heartache as well as joys and happiness.   Just because we have a relationship with Christ does not mean that our path will always lead to the easy road, and the author has found a good balance with these characters. 

Lake Emily is the town I wish I could live in and love.  But then reality hits and I know that I could not be a farmer’s wife.  But I can escape to Lake Emily whenever I choose.