The Meadowlark

By: B.C. Walker

Narrated by: Tawnya Rollingson

Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1885, southeastern Idaho was the last part of the country to open for homesteading. Young Cassie Rapp arrives with her family to farm a country overrun by sagebrush and lacking water. With others they meet, they harness the mighty Snake River and turn 100,000 acres of barren earth into the rich farm community it is today.

Meanwhile, modern-day character Emma Rose, a notable speaker and business consultant, is trying to make sense of her recently deceased father’s request to be buried in a small Idaho town. Her journey of discovery begins from there.

The Meadowlark is a sweeping saga of generations of powerful women set against the building of the American West and a modern discovery of deep family roots. Rich in historical detail and human emotion, this is the story of the uphill struggles endured by the people settling this country, and the pride, perseverance, and faith it takes to succeed.

The Meadowlark offers the debut of a strong new writer. B.C. Walker combines a keen observer’s eye and the particularity of place to lay out a lush, large-scale, multi-generational story.

©2022 B.C. Walker (P)2022 B.C. Walker

I love stories about the area we live. I couldn’t wait to get back to listening to the stories. I loved all of it so much!

Very interesting story! Loved the narration! Tawnya Rollingson is amazing! I love her vivid voice! So interesting & captivating!

Multifaceted

This story is several intertwined stories of the hardships our ancestors endured to create a better life.

Excellent narration!

Tawnya did a great job narrating this book with its vast array of characters. The story started off a bit slow for me but got better and more cohesive as it moved along. Provided an interesting look at history of that part of the country that isn’t often heard.

A fun, historical-modern romance!

The story begins in the late 1800s with a pioneer family in Idaho. And this is interwoven with a contemporary story of a businesswoman looking for romance. these two plot lines are linked mysteriously, and slowly converge. it's a lot of fun to see how they unfold. it's also a heartwarming romance, and a tale of how connecting to our ancestral roots is a source of life. an excellent debut novel!

Beautiful story, connecting generations.

This beautifully written story portrays the Snake River valley both in the past and present. The small details including common last names from the area, friendly small town culture, the heart break of rural farm life trauma, and the delights of scones, honey butter, and iron port cherry at the local drug store. Inspires commitment to remain connected to generations of family.

Great story

I really enjoyed listening to this story. The narrator did an amazing job. It was fun hearing about the area I grew up in. I learned a lot about water. I never considered how the great feeders were made until now. Overall the story was good, I did feel like I should have felt more sadness throughout the book, given the circumstances. It moved on a little too fast for me to truly feel the pain they must have felt. But in the end I like how it all came together.

Beautiful, well-crafted story

I keep rewriting this review because I want to say what I loved about it but feel like I'll spoil the ending. Just know what a masterfully crafted story this is, the author put great care into these characters and how their lives intertwine. Such a beautiful and impactful story. Highly recommend!

Great narrator

Loved the narrator for this book. The story was really good - especially the historical background on the Snake River and early pioneers. I could tell the author had a deep connection to that area. The book needed tighter editing. More showing, less telling.

Beautiful

10/10 recommend. The narrator breathes life into each character as she weaves a beautiful and tragic tale that demonstrates the strength and character of early farmland settlers.

Worth pushing through the first few chapters

At first I was kind of confused by the dual storylines but chugged through assuming the pieces would fall into place (they did). and I was leery of the journey of self-discovery the main character goes on with her self-help TedTalks at the beginning, but that fit in, too and Emma goes through a character growth, even beyond her TedTalks.

I do think this book needs a few trigger warnings (the R word and infant mortality), as I was forewarned and I'm grateful I was. It went over my younger children's heads as it was not very descriptive, but it could require a conversation with some children if they overhear.

As far as representation goes, this book ticks both the neurodivergent box and the female empowerment box. the story is full of strong brave women! And though there is never a diagnosis given, there is a very good and tasteful description of Autism given to one of the characters, along with a pretty accurate description of how it was dealt with historically.

I was a little miffed the history didn't really mesh with the reality, because I looked up things about the Great Feeder and about Meadow Creek (of which, only a plaque commemorating the settlement remains), but upon reflection I can forgive the author on those points, and the book made me want to learn more, so it did its job. I just wish I could have walked a little further into the true history. I did see that there is actually a green book bound in gold, so I'm going to look into that a bit further. I also found it oddly fitting that I read this book while Idaho Farmers are fighting so hard to maintain their water rights. Water and irrigation are so prevalent in the book, and in current affairs.