The Angels of Morgan Hill: A Novel

Written by Donna VanLiere

Narrated by Donna VanLiere

The small town of Morgan Hill, Tennessee, is turned upside down in 1947 when the Turners become the only black family ever to move into the area. Nine-year-old Jane Gable first lays eyes on young Milo Turner the day that her trouble-making, alcoholic father is buried in the Morgan Falls cemetery.

When the Turners begin work as sharecroppers on a local tobacco farm, their presence challenges the comfort of many in the close-knit town and Jane leans heavily on her best friend, 53-year-old general store owner Henry Walker, for guidance. Then tragedy strikes the Turner household: Jane, her mother Fran (already pregnant with another mouth to feed), and younger brother John find themselves torn between the people they've lived with all their lives and a dying request from 6-year-old Milo Turner's mother that nearly rips their world apart.

The Angels of Morgan Hill is Donna VanLiere at her inspiring and heartwarming best, in an audiobook that's ultimately about the mysteries of faith, the hope of belonging, and the dream of family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Oct 31, 2006
• ISBN: 9781427201478

Donna VanLiere

Donna VanLiere is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her much-loved Christmas Hope series includes The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Blessing (both of which were adapted into movies for CBS Television), The Christmas Secret, The Christmas Journey, and The Christmas Hope, which was adapted into a film by Lifetime. She is also the author of The Angels of Morgan Hill and Finding Grace. VanLiere is the recipient of a Retailer's Choice Award for Fiction, a Dove Award, a Silver Angel Award, an Audie Award for best inspirational fiction, and a nominee for a Gold Medallion Book of the Year. She is a gifted speaker who makes regular appearances at conferences. She lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with her husband and their children.

Reviews for The Angels of Morgan Hill

[moonshineandrosefire · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's 1947. Nine-year-old Jane Gable first lays eyes on Milo Turner the day her alcoholic and abusive father is laid to rest. The Turner family is the first black family to live in Morgan Hill and Jane can't understand why people are so bitter. For Jane and her brother John, Milo is just a new friend and playmate.Then tragedy strikes the Turner family and the Gables are asked to make a decision that could rip their family apart. One path may open up a whole new world for them and bring them closer together, the other may bring them trouble and heartache. As Jane struggles to make sense of the many changes that have come to her community, she will discover that she is surrounded by many angels who are ready to help her in the most ordinary and extraordinary ways.I really liked this book and thought that it was a very easy read. I enjoyed this book so much because everything comes right. This is the second time that I've read this book and I give it an A+!

[kathywoodall · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Much like Ms VanLiere other books, a true tear jerker. The setting is in the 1940's in East Tennessee in a small town of Morgan Hill. Told from the view point of Jane a 9 year girl.

[authormarion · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

picked up this book because of the word Angels in the title, knowing nothing about the author or her other works. After the opening paragraph, however, I was hooked. Set in Tennessee during the 1950s, Jane Gable (the 9-year old narrator) tells the story of the day her daddy was buried and how she and her younger brother saw their first black family. Through humorous anecdotes of life in the South, we learn of the contempt of some for the 'colored' sharecroppers and how far these folks would go to get rid of them. When Milo (the young black child) loses his family in a fire, it is Jane's pregnant mother who takes him in as she tries to keep a deathbed promise to Milo's mother. Through trials and tribulation, Jane's mother stands firm in her resolve but it is Jane herself that pushes the town to action when she refuses to attend school because Milo isn't allowed into an all-white school. What happens after that is purely heartwrenching and heartwarming at the same time. A captivating read that will have some reaching for the tissue box.

[emmery_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. it shows how a white family befriends a black family. But because of racial discrimination, the befriended family dies, leaving a young boy behind. The white family adopts the young orphaned boy. The father of the white family died a couple of years before, so it was up to the mother to raise the children. It is so beautiful how the main character believes in the right of people, although sometimes rude, she will fight for her new adopted brother. People made fun of the family, but the family ignores them and treats the adopted boy as one of their own. I really recommend to read this book.

[tipsister · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Angels of Morgan Hill, by Donna Van Liere is an extremely sweet book that kept me turning the pages. The narrator shifts between a few characters but the principle narrator is Jane, a nine-year-old girl who has just lost her father. The story is set in the late 1940’s in a small town in Tennassee. The times are hard, the jobs are scarce, and life isn’t easy for the Gable family. After Jane and John’s father dies, their mother, Fran, struggles to raise her kids while dealing with the news that there is another baby on the way. When a black family moves to town, the Gable family’s life is turned upside down. Fran forms a friendship with Addy, despite what people think. I don’t want to give anything away but when the worst happens, the people of Morgan Hill come together to make things right. They are the Angels of Morgan Hill. The core group of characters are so wonderful to each other that it makes me long for a tight knit community like that.While the ending was a little too neat and tidy, the story moved along at such a rapid pace, with so much happening in the span of a year, it was a relief to have a tidy ending! I didn’t know what to expect from Donna Van Liere but I can say that this is a beautiful story with some good lessons. It isn’t perfect but it’s worth a read.