Praise for Strength Within
I’d snatch up … this sparkling book. This book belongs in Family History Centres, where people find their ancestors.
-2009 Writers Digest Self Published Book Awards
A delight! A warm, funny, and thoughtful story, The Granger Chronicles is sure to have widespread appeal. Smith’s research is first-rate and she does a fantastic job of creating flesh-and-blood characters out of real people who lived long ago. Rare among family memoirs, The Granger Chronicles is peopled by warm, caring, functional individuals whom you’d like to work with, be friends with, and live next door to, while serving as a refreshing reminder that although no family is “perfect,” not every family has been damaged by secrets, violence, or abuse. Highly recommended.
– Elizabeth Ridley, “The Writer’s Midwife” and author of: Dear Mr. Carson; Rainey’s Lament; Throwing Roses; and The Remarkable Journey of Miss Tranby Quirke.
Strength Within: The Granger Chronicles is not a work of fiction, yet it is crafted like one, with dramatic tension, cause and effect and questions that demand answers. As a reader, I cared what happened to these characters. They experienced love and death and success and pain and hardship and laughter, life elements we can all identify with. And for those who trace their heritage to immigrant families, their story is one that will resonate. This highly enjoyable work should be read for its mix of humour and sensitivity, honest searching and sound research. Turn the pages and find the same pleasure I did – you won’t be disappointed.
– Claire Morris, Coordinating Editor, Solander, the Magazine of the Historical Novel Society.
“The strength within that allows you to bend with circumstance is the same strength that keeps you from breaking.” It is with this in mind that the author details the saga of her family who flee rural Hungary in 1905 to a new land – the U.S. and then to Ontario, Canada. It is one family’s story with unique adventures and secrets; yet they faced what many faced during one of history’s most dynamic eras: the 19th and 20th centuries. A very interesting perspective!
– Nancy Deslatte, reviewed in Book Crossing