Annie Laura’s Triumph    by Milinda Jay Order:  USA  Can Mercer University Press, 2017 (2017) Softcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Barbara Lingens Milinda Jay, an eighth-generation Florida native, has looked into her family history and come up with a gripping tale, beautifully told. Annie Laura is a wonderful mother to her many children and a resourceful and hard-working farmer. But her pride in her land is overshadowed by the way she got it. In a village nearby lives her daughter, Viola Lee, who has been adopted by former friends. Viola Lee is about to get married, but when her bridegroom fails to return from a far-away job, it falls to Annie Laura to get to the bottom of it. Jay manages to make things unfold in their time, while we savor learning about the hard-scrabble life of farmers and the sometimes uppity ways of villagers. The characters in this story are wonderful individuals who jump from the page for us to get to know - or to shy away from - them. We feel the sweat labor of farming and the heat that never stops, and we smell the men's pipes as they take their relaxation, along with the wonderful pies that have just come out of the oven. This is a very satisfying story. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Historical books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews