Emma's gift Book

This second book of The Wortham Family Series picks up a few months after the first book, Julia's Hope, left off. It's December in 1931, and their neighbor Wilametta Hammond has just died, leaving behind 10 children. On that same day, the loss of another loved one leaves Julia and Samuel reeling, but before they mourn their own loss, they are left to pick up the pieces when Wilametta's grieving husband George just gives up, and it's up to the Wortham's to care for the Hammond children the best that they can, even though they can barely provide for their own two children. But even amidst their grief, both families discover an unexpected gift of hope.


As sad as the premise of this book was, I still really enjoyed the story. It was hard to put down once I started reading it. It was a very touching story, without being sappy or overly sentimental, a very authentic look at how so many people during the Great Depression had to struggle and make do with what they had.


You can read this as a stand alone story, but it will be a much more meaningful story if you read Julia's Hope first, especially so that you can get the background story of how the two families became neighbors, then later friends.