An Appalachian Summer by Ann H Gabhart
The Frontier Nursing Service established by Mary Breckinridge is the core theme of this book. Mary established this service back in 1925 as a midwifery service to help mothers have more successful deliveries with both mother and baby surviving. The service was very successful and, as I understand, is still going today. At the time of our story, the 1930s, nurses rode horseback through the mountain trails and couriers would come for the summer to help out with the horses, delivering supplies and anything else that was needed of them. It was a hard life, but a fulfilling life. So that is the historical backdrop to this book. Piper wanted out of the city for awhile. She was being pressured by her father to marry a man she barely knew while, of course, being in love with a man her father didn't approve of. And that is really all I'm going to say about that. I admire Piper in her willingness to give up a summer of comfort and go to the mountains. She didn't really know what s