The Splendor of Ordinary Days: A Novel of Watervalley by Jeff High

The Splendor of Ordinary Days: A Novel of Watervalley.  Jeff High. Penguin Group (USA). October 2015. 432 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451474100.

Luke Bradford, in this third Watervalley novel, has become more attached to the rustic beauty and pleasant, interesting people of Watervalley, Tennessee.  Part of it is the satisfaction he experiences with his medical practice and the stronger part is definitely his budding romance with Christine Chambers.  However, there’s always something brewing in the town that starts out small and grows with distressing power and the latest quandary is what keeps Luke from giving his whole heart to the town and the decision to permanently stay.

The latest conflict involves a phone call one night that there’s a fire close to the Mennonite community nearby.  Once the first responders arrive, they stop as they realize they will not be needed, for the Mennonite have their own fire brigade and reject any outside involvement.  The only man who has plenty of experience with the Mennonites is Luther Whitmore but what that is seems completely unknown to the townspeople.  When Luther, editor of the town newspaper, pens an irate editorial in the paper, though posed as a news story, the residents fail to see a connection and instead start conversations that put veterans to the forefront.  The town is proud of all the men who died in past wars over the last hundred years and so everyone accepts Luther’s irate words as gospel truth.

The secrets around this problem will gradually be revealed, as well as an effort to honor military veterans in the town with a memorial.  Luke, however, has an uncanny ability to warm up conversations and several characters in the book wind up eventually sharing their military and secular secrets, in this novel yielding forgiveness, repentance and healing that can only benefit Watervalley.

Luke and Christine will battle their own personal challenge, the first to test their deep love and personalities.

The Splendor of Ordinary Days… is a wonderful read with muted conflicts but high energy when it comes to being protective and caring toward each resident of the valley.  The descriptions of animals and setting, as well, are gently presented and make the reader feel he or she is also a resident, fully satisfied and loving one’s surroundings and neighbors.  Nicely crafted, Jeff High, again!  Recommended to all and the earlier novels in this series as well!

Each Shining Hour: A Novel of Watervalley by Jeff High

Each Shining Hour: A Novel of Watervalley - Book #2. Jeff High.  NAL Trade.  October 2014. 432 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451419279.

Luke is the local doctor in Watervalley, a lovely town in Tennessee.  He arrived with a three year contract which guaranteed his medical school loan would be paid off. For that trade off, he gave up his dream of doing medical research and working in a large city; but the time he’s lived here has endeared him to the locals and them to him.  Now we welcome some new and old characters in this second book of the series plus an addition to the plot of a complex mystery.

Connie is Luke’s housekeeper/cook/confidante.  Her sister, Estelle, arrives with huge plans to open a bakery in a historic, beautiful building but there’s a mystery and several secrets associated with this place.  It’s also said to be haunted as a terrible crime occurred right outside this place, involving the owner Oscar Fox and another man.  Both murdered each other but no one really knows what sparked the deadly finale of their lives.  Luke becomes fascinated by this mystery and sets out to learn more, with the assistance of his on-and-off-again girlfriend, Christine, and an older man who’s become a trusted friend, John.  There are those who fight Luke on every turn but “a diamond” is the first clue to begin an intriguing search for the exposure of secrets and the truth to emerge.

Meanwhile, Luke gets a new nurse and continues working his medical magic on the people of Watervalley.  His bedside manner is phenomenal; and he never hides the truth but always conveys it with sensitivity and compassion. 

Estelle’s bakery dreams get thrown off for a brief time and the characters exhibit great humor and skills in getting past this huge obstacle.  The “bad guys” do get theirs, you know (tongue in cheek indeed)!

Jeff High has improved his writing in this second Watervalley novel.  The plot has just enough homey dialogue, genteel romance, brutal crime, intriguing mystery and an overall sense of reality in small-town living that never stops being endearing and gripping enough to make one want to keep reading without stopping!  Very nicely crafted, Jeff High!

More Things in Heaven and Earth: A Novel of Watervalley by Jeff High

More Things in Heaven and Earth: A Novel of Watervalley.  Jeff High. Penguin Group (USA). October 2013. 464 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9780451419262.

Deep in debt from medical school tuition, Luke Bradford agrees to pay it off in service as a primary physician for three years in a rural Tennessee town.  Luke would prefer to be a research specialist, but that is not to be.  The beginning of that service is far from noteworthy; indeed it is hilarious as he manages to bumble his way into town and practically burn his own lovely new home down.  He worries that the town residents will think him a bumbling fool, especially as he manages to inadvertently joke about a teacher to a woman he finds attractive, little realizing he has started off his wooing with an extremely funny but definitely insulting faux pas!

Little by little he manages to impress the town with his medical expertise.  He even manages to befriend a recluse who was once very active politically and socially but who knows secrets that Luke doesn’t have a clue explain his wealthy but antisocial present status.  In between running the clinic, he has some amusing encounters with his housekeeper, a woman “of color” who seems highly educated and a definite match for witty remarks.

Then comes a devastating health crisis in the town with its flu-like symptoms that fall fast and hard on men, women, and children.  After far too long trying to figure out its source, Luke discovers the secret hidden out of fear and greed; passing that test provides Luke with a new perspective.  It reveals much of his own childhood background that has left him feeling like an outsider.  For it’s not the town’s residents who have shut out Luke but he who has always kept a thick line of reserve as he yearns for the day he can leave to get on with “what really matters to him.” Meanwhile, he is having the opposite effect on everyone who have the highest respect for him and are also beginning to care deeply about him, especially when they see him agonizing over his inability to find the source of this sudden and drastic illness.

The surprise discovery and moments after that self-revelation are lovely to read.  Luke is now on the road to truly becoming a community authority and beloved member!

More Things in Heaven and Earth… is an engaging and quaint story that has just enough crisis and tension to keep a very simple but endearing story moving and moving!  Highly recommended!