The Calling of Ella McFarland by Linda Brooks Davis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Calling of Ella McFarland written by Linda Brooks Davis

Linda is a first prize winner of the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild Operation First Novel Contest..
A first but I am sure not the last of this authors books.

A calling,This is what the Bible tells us of this:Romans 8:28

~And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.~

Ella has a strong dream and has worked toward the purpose of being a teacher,she feels this is what she should do with her life and works hard toward this goal. The Worthington School for Girls is the elite place for the girls that are well off. She has always felt this is where she should teach so when they do not accept her, she is devastated. The only good thing about her visits there with the board is that she met the newest member , Andrew.
Andrew wanted to court Ella but she was sure she should have a school and teach young girls so she started with one Lily that worked in the fields. Lily was the young abused daughter of a sharecropper. She brought Lily to her home -bathed and fed her-then started helping in anyway that she could to better the girls life. This caused her fathers abuse to be even worse not wanting charity from others.
Frank was a childhood friend that she had known many years but He proved false in his doings as an adult and hurt her in many ways...unbeknownst to her -he went after her sister secretly and caused so much heartache for the family and also the community.
The early 1900's brought Hope of Oklahoma statehood and the women's suffrage debate is raging, Ella meets women working in this and feels led to make her voice heard as she speaks for those that can't. Education is her heart's desire but there is also another desire that she cannot deny , Andrew pursues her and lets her know he is willing to let her do and be whatever she feels she has to do.
God's will is so important to Ella...She is a strong determined woman that will not let personal life deter her helping those that need her.
Her sister that she loves so strongly seems to always be doing things that hurts her. She flaunts her caring for Frank and he for her in front of the family. Viola thinks only of herself and is always shirking responsibility when it comes to helping at home, leaving Ella to help so her mother won't have to do so much.
Ella is determined to teach-to work towards women's rights yet she wonders can she have more..Andrew is such a warm caring loving person that she knows they can help one another in this journey called life. Finally she accepts his courtship and blossoms in the days to come.

I challenge you to read this story ,learn more about Ella McFarland ,the character named for the authors Grandmother and her journey in life, I loved the fiction and facts blending into a fictional story that gives us a bit of history from an earlier time. I will be looking for other books to come and am sure you will to from Linda.


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Paula-O Osborne's Reviews > The Calling of Ella McFarland