Sugar Fork

Walt Larimore has been called one of America’s “best-known family physicians.” He was awarded the 2004 Christianity Today Book Award for coauthoring Going Public with Your Faith and has been a Gold Medallion Book Award finalist three times. The author of the popular Bryson City Tales series, he lives in Monument, Colorado.

Larimore’s unsuccessful sequel to this year’s Hazel Creek finds Nate Randolph struggling to raise his five daughters, assisted only by the eldest, Abbie. While life is challenging, they get by on faith, hard work, and the help of neighbors. The local lumber company manager has been putting pressure on Nate to sell his land, and when he refuses, he is murdered, along with Abbie’s fiancé. Now Abbie must assume the responsibility of parenting her four younger sisters and tackle the lumber company intent on seizing her land. With the help of friends and neighbors, Abbie, still a young woman, takes on the lumber company in order to save her sisters. Larimore, an MD, portrays the community and landscape adequately but falls back upon the all-too-familiar story of traditional mountain folk pitted against ruthless, early-20th-century industrialization.. (Oct. 2) 2012 Reed Business Information

"Walt Larimore can write! He weaves a tale that will take you into the coves of the Great Smokey Mountains and introduce you to the hearts of its noble people. Pull up a chair, pour a glass of iced tea, and relax with a story that will capture you."
“Sugar Fork takes a unique look back to a lost and almost forgotten era in the history of the industrial age of the southern Appalachian Mountains—a transitional period in the history of Western North Carolina. As the fictional characters of Sugar Fork interact with figures whose names grace the pages of both local and national history books these characters come alive. I am delighted with Sugar Fork!"
"The Randolph family could easily fall apart trying to survive in the Great Smoky Mountain wilderness. The captivating stories and colorful voices of these characters, their lives and struggles, will stay with you long after you reluctantly come to the end. A good old-fashioned novel."
“Come hike with me through the virgin Smoky Mountain forest, along stream beds lush with trilliums, ferns, and orchids. Contrast this spectacular beauty with the simple life of an orphaned Southern Highlands maiden. See hope, faith, and love conquer hate and greed in a setting where good, simple folk wrestle evil in the bygone world of old Appalachia. Walt Larimore has done it once again in his powerful, heart-string, tugging page-turner, Sugar Fork.”
"This book has it all . . . romance, suspense, faith, family, and great historical detail. Continuing on from Hazel Creek, the first book in the series, Abbie Randolf faces many challenges as she cares for her motherless siblings.The research and detail in this series is wonderful and this book will appeal to all ages and types of readers."
"Set in the beautiful Smoky Mountains, Walt Larimore has captured the spirit of the people of Sugar Fork. He takes us on a journey into the lives of the Randolph family, their friends, and the townspeople of Bryson City—a journey that readers will long remember!"