Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (2014), 448 pages
Description
Successful New York editor Jen Gibbs is at the top of her game with her new position at Vida House Publishing--until a mysterious manuscript from an old slush pile appears on her desk. Turning the pages, Jen finds herself drawn into the life of Sarra, a mixed-race Melungeon girl trapped by dangerous men in turn-of-the-century Appalachia. A risky hunch may lead to The Story Keeper's hidden origins and its unknown author, but when the trail turns toward the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a place Jen thought she'd left behind forever, the price of a blockbuster book deal may be higher than she's willing to pay.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jbarr5
The Story Keeper by Lisa Wingate
Have read some of the author's other works and enjoyed the book. This one intrigued me to want to read it. It's about Jen Gibbs who is a book editor and we get to see just what it is she does on a daily basis.
Always wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes.
There is a note and it comes from NC. The book is about a Mohegan female and her life and it brings up memories for Jen as is is from the same locale.
Love hearing of the mountains and the editorial world. .gets a bit confusing at times as the book alternates from Jen and her life and the story of the female that lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The font style is different for both.
Jen and her friend Jaime attempt to find out who the author is, and she's pretty sure it's the same as the time shifters author. Problem is he is a loner and doesn't do interviews, etc and Jen isn't 100% sure it's the same guy, Evan Hall.
Her boss wants to know the answers also and sends her back to Looking Glass Gap to find out just who the author is ...
She does, in town, get to talk to one of Evan Hall's relatives and when she returns to the cabin she finds a few more of the chapters of the book, the story keepers. that woman she has plans to meet with in hopes to find out if Evan is the author...
She also gets to reconnect with her family and realizes how backward their lifestyle is and she's glad she was able to get away. The groups come together to help find a lost child. Love the communion box-so glad there is a 'box' in this book. Quite surprised to find out the true author as the clues get them all searching.
Handful of characters, easy to keep track of and glad to hear of the Appalchia people and ther lifestyle. Detailed descriptions of the sceneery was great! Love the story line. Also includes excerpt from The Sea Keeper's Duaghter, the next new book.
I received this book from bookfun.org via Book Club Network in exchange for my honest review.
Have read some of the author's other works and enjoyed the book. This one intrigued me to want to read it. It's about Jen Gibbs who is a book editor and we get to see just what it is she does on a daily basis.
Always wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes.
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She's recently broken up with her boyfriend Brian and she keeps the dog, Friday. She is so by herself that she carries on conversations with him. She had a manuscript put on her desk, unsolicited and she realizes it is from the slush mountain-the books they never get to read.There is a note and it comes from NC. The book is about a Mohegan female and her life and it brings up memories for Jen as is is from the same locale.
Love hearing of the mountains and the editorial world. .gets a bit confusing at times as the book alternates from Jen and her life and the story of the female that lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The font style is different for both.
Jen and her friend Jaime attempt to find out who the author is, and she's pretty sure it's the same as the time shifters author. Problem is he is a loner and doesn't do interviews, etc and Jen isn't 100% sure it's the same guy, Evan Hall.
Her boss wants to know the answers also and sends her back to Looking Glass Gap to find out just who the author is ...
She does, in town, get to talk to one of Evan Hall's relatives and when she returns to the cabin she finds a few more of the chapters of the book, the story keepers. that woman she has plans to meet with in hopes to find out if Evan is the author...
She also gets to reconnect with her family and realizes how backward their lifestyle is and she's glad she was able to get away. The groups come together to help find a lost child. Love the communion box-so glad there is a 'box' in this book. Quite surprised to find out the true author as the clues get them all searching.
Handful of characters, easy to keep track of and glad to hear of the Appalchia people and ther lifestyle. Detailed descriptions of the sceneery was great! Love the story line. Also includes excerpt from The Sea Keeper's Duaghter, the next new book.
I received this book from bookfun.org via Book Club Network in exchange for my honest review.
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LibraryThing member JoyAnne
This is probably my favorite Lisa Wingate book, I love the setting, the characters, the storyline. As I read page after page I could visualize each scene. I would love to dig into that slush-pile and read till my heart's content!
Right after Jen begins a new job with a top publisher in New York
Difficult subjects are handled, we meet Jen's annoying (sometimes maddening) family and of course the author of the manuscript. Amazing story, superbly written.
I read this book through Lisa's Sisterhood Of The Traveling Books.
Right after Jen begins a new job with a top publisher in New York
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City an old manuscript appears on her desk. Knowing this came from the slush-pile that everyone is warned not to touch she isn't sure what to do at first but curiosity overcomes and she reads it which leads her into an exciting but sometimes frustrating search for the author and right back to the place she never wanted to return. Difficult subjects are handled, we meet Jen's annoying (sometimes maddening) family and of course the author of the manuscript. Amazing story, superbly written.
I read this book through Lisa's Sisterhood Of The Traveling Books.
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LibraryThing member busyreadin
Interesting story involving the legends of the Appalachia mountain people.
LibraryThing member PDianeB
The Story Keeper, written by Lisa Wingate, an enjoyable and uplifting book of Christian fiction, is really two stories in one. It begins when Jen Gibbs arrives at her new publishing job in New York City and finds part of a mysterious and anonymous manuscript on her desk. The author takes us through
The book jumps back and forth between Jen’s search for the author of this 20-year old manuscript and the manuscript’s poignant tale of Rand, a Charleston preacher, and Sarra, a young mixed-race woman, as they try to escape the evils of men in the late 1800s.
The search for the author takes her back to the backwoods region in North Carolina where she grew up and struggled to escape. Jen was raised in a repressive cult, which still controls her entire family. If not for the intercession of an older woman in the community, Jen would never have had the courage to leave and create a new life.
Jen faces many obstacles while trying to get her first big publishing acquisition. Not only does she have to deal with an author who detests the fame that came with his first books, she has to face her own family’s issues and her own memories and fears. Through the search for the author, Jen slowly begins to realize that maybe, just maybe, the god of her childhood, is not God Almighty. God is more than the limiting and belittling god her father always preached and she begins to heal.
I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderfully written novel and had a very hard time putting it down. The Story Keeper would make for a great weekend read – and I speak from experience!
I received a free book from Tyndale House Publishers through The Book Club Network, Inc., in exchange for an unbiased review.
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Jen’s search to find the author and the rest of the manuscript, and, little does she know, Jen is also on a journey to reclaim the missing parts of her soul. The book jumps back and forth between Jen’s search for the author of this 20-year old manuscript and the manuscript’s poignant tale of Rand, a Charleston preacher, and Sarra, a young mixed-race woman, as they try to escape the evils of men in the late 1800s.
The search for the author takes her back to the backwoods region in North Carolina where she grew up and struggled to escape. Jen was raised in a repressive cult, which still controls her entire family. If not for the intercession of an older woman in the community, Jen would never have had the courage to leave and create a new life.
Jen faces many obstacles while trying to get her first big publishing acquisition. Not only does she have to deal with an author who detests the fame that came with his first books, she has to face her own family’s issues and her own memories and fears. Through the search for the author, Jen slowly begins to realize that maybe, just maybe, the god of her childhood, is not God Almighty. God is more than the limiting and belittling god her father always preached and she begins to heal.
I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderfully written novel and had a very hard time putting it down. The Story Keeper would make for a great weekend read – and I speak from experience!
I received a free book from Tyndale House Publishers through The Book Club Network, Inc., in exchange for an unbiased review.
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LibraryThing member mbarkman
Reading one of Lisa Wingate's novels is always memorable. She has a incomparable way of writing a story within a narrative in such a way that the reader does not get lost, but feels completely in the novel. The Story Keeper is another one of her novels, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think each
From the first page where Jenn steps into a successful publishing house the reader is on a journey. I see the world she sees in such a poignant way that I feel it is me living this story, anxious to do a good enough job for the business, loving the interaction, the learning curve. Chasing that perfect manuscript.
The story flows, and sometimes I forgot that it was a story, and was on my way to the internet to do some research to help her. Some books invite you into them, Lisa's stories do not give you an option. You just do. I wait restlessly for news that her next novel is available.
Thank you to Cheri and Fred at The Book Club Network, the author Lisa Wingate and Tyndale Fiction for the opportunity to read this novel. I was given a free book in exchange for an honest review. A positive critique was not required. The opinions are my own.
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book she writes is her very best! Her tags say Contemporary W omen’s Fiction, but I think they are so much more. It did not take me long to read it, as I was anxious to find out the mystery that was the driving force of the story. Lisa did definitely write what she knew, as the plot surrounds a manuscript.From the first page where Jenn steps into a successful publishing house the reader is on a journey. I see the world she sees in such a poignant way that I feel it is me living this story, anxious to do a good enough job for the business, loving the interaction, the learning curve. Chasing that perfect manuscript.
The story flows, and sometimes I forgot that it was a story, and was on my way to the internet to do some research to help her. Some books invite you into them, Lisa's stories do not give you an option. You just do. I wait restlessly for news that her next novel is available.
Thank you to Cheri and Fred at The Book Club Network, the author Lisa Wingate and Tyndale Fiction for the opportunity to read this novel. I was given a free book in exchange for an honest review. A positive critique was not required. The opinions are my own.
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LibraryThing member mchwest
I loved this book, and finding out it was #2 in her Carolina series means I have one to go back and read, and another to look forward to in what looks like September of 2015. The story brings to life the beautiful landscape of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the wonderful lore of the Appalachian
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people. Enjoy! Show Less
LibraryThing member Harley0326
I received a copy of this book for an honest review
Jen is excited about her new job at Vida House Publishing. She is looking to make an impression and thinks she has found the next best seller. There is a room they call "Slush Mountain that has old seemingly unwanted manuscripts . She has been told
Jen knows in her hands is a story that must be published. She has convinced the publishing company that she needs to find the author who wrote this amazing story and get his permission to publish it. She finds herself thinking back to when she lived not far from where the story takes place. Jen never thought she would ever return to Blue Ridge Mountain, but she must travel there to find the elusive author of this story that has captured her heart . The story that has intrigued Jen is about a young girl named Sarah. It shows the struggles in the 1800s and how people had to deal with hunger and poverty. She gives us a strong character in Sarah that is determined to overcome her circumstances. Jen is a determined woman who must face her past as she sees similarities in the story she wants to publish and her own life. What will happen to Sarah? Can Jen embrace her past? Who is the author behind this story?
The book is well written and filled with a great background of the Appalachian people. I loved how the author draws her readers in with an uncanny realism of the characters. It is a story that takes you on a journey of survival and dealing with past memories. The writing is a treasure similar to a present that is unwrapped slowly to reveal a breathtaking gift. Lisa has given readers a book that will be hard to forget.
Jen is excited about her new job at Vida House Publishing. She is looking to make an impression and thinks she has found the next best seller. There is a room they call "Slush Mountain that has old seemingly unwanted manuscripts . She has been told
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never to go to that room. Surprisingly one day laying on the edge of her desk, is a story in an envelope which just appeared out of thin air. As Jen beings to read the story, she is mesmerized by the writing. It does have an eerie likeness to the place she left a long time ago. How did this story from "Slush Mountain" get on her desk? What mysteries will it reveal ? Jen knows in her hands is a story that must be published. She has convinced the publishing company that she needs to find the author who wrote this amazing story and get his permission to publish it. She finds herself thinking back to when she lived not far from where the story takes place. Jen never thought she would ever return to Blue Ridge Mountain, but she must travel there to find the elusive author of this story that has captured her heart . The story that has intrigued Jen is about a young girl named Sarah. It shows the struggles in the 1800s and how people had to deal with hunger and poverty. She gives us a strong character in Sarah that is determined to overcome her circumstances. Jen is a determined woman who must face her past as she sees similarities in the story she wants to publish and her own life. What will happen to Sarah? Can Jen embrace her past? Who is the author behind this story?
The book is well written and filled with a great background of the Appalachian people. I loved how the author draws her readers in with an uncanny realism of the characters. It is a story that takes you on a journey of survival and dealing with past memories. The writing is a treasure similar to a present that is unwrapped slowly to reveal a breathtaking gift. Lisa has given readers a book that will be hard to forget.
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LibraryThing member Harley0326
I received a copy of this book for an honest review
Jen is excited about her new job at Vida House Publishing. She is looking to make an impression and thinks she has found the next best seller. There is a room they call "Slush Mountain that has old seemingly unwanted manuscripts . She has been told
Jen knows in her hands is a story that must be published. She has convinced the publishing company that she needs to find the author who wrote this amazing story and get his permission to publish it. She finds herself thinking back to when she lived not far from where the story takes place. Jen never thought she would ever return to Blue Ridge Mountain, but she must travel there to find the elusive author of this story that has captured her heart . The story that has intrigued Jen is about a young girl named Sarah. It shows the struggles in the 1800s and how people had to deal with hunger and poverty. She gives us a strong character in Sarah that is determined to overcome her circumstances. Jen is a determined woman who must face her past as she sees similarities in the story she wants to publish and her own life. What will happen to Sarah? Can Jen embrace her past? Who is the author behind this story?
The book is well written and filled with a great background of the Appalachian people. I loved how the author draws her readers in with an uncanny realism of the characters. It is a story that takes you on a journey of survival and dealing with past memories. The writing is a treasure similar to a present that is unwrapped slowly to reveal a breathtaking gift. Lisa has given readers a book that will be hard to forget.
Jen is excited about her new job at Vida House Publishing. She is looking to make an impression and thinks she has found the next best seller. There is a room they call "Slush Mountain that has old seemingly unwanted manuscripts . She has been told
Show More
never to go to that room. Surprisingly one day laying on the edge of her desk, is a story in an envelope which just appeared out of thin air. As Jen beings to read the story, she is mesmerized by the writing. It does have an eerie likeness to the place she left a long time ago. How did this story from "Slush Mountain" get on her desk? What mysteries will it reveal ? Jen knows in her hands is a story that must be published. She has convinced the publishing company that she needs to find the author who wrote this amazing story and get his permission to publish it. She finds herself thinking back to when she lived not far from where the story takes place. Jen never thought she would ever return to Blue Ridge Mountain, but she must travel there to find the elusive author of this story that has captured her heart . The story that has intrigued Jen is about a young girl named Sarah. It shows the struggles in the 1800s and how people had to deal with hunger and poverty. She gives us a strong character in Sarah that is determined to overcome her circumstances. Jen is a determined woman who must face her past as she sees similarities in the story she wants to publish and her own life. What will happen to Sarah? Can Jen embrace her past? Who is the author behind this story?
The book is well written and filled with a great background of the Appalachian people. I loved how the author draws her readers in with an uncanny realism of the characters. It is a story that takes you on a journey of survival and dealing with past memories. The writing is a treasure similar to a present that is unwrapped slowly to reveal a breathtaking gift. Lisa has given readers a book that will be hard to forget.
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LibraryThing member LocoBooksellerShawna
I want to start off by saying that I wasn't sure if I would like this book since it is the first Christian Fiction book I've read. So needless to say I was a little hesitant. But MAN I couldn't put this book down!
This book is really two books in one, following people in two different centuries,
If I have one complaint about this book it was the ending. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good ending and wrapped the major story line up. I guess I felt like there were some things not concluded for me. I’m hoping that there is another book or novella coming that continues Jess’s story because I want to know more about her life. I don’t want to say more and give anything away.
To conclude this review I think this is a great book with a great story. I know I’ll be picking up more of Lisa Wingate’s books.
This book is really two books in one, following people in two different centuries,
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but the author was flawless in her blending of the two. The more I read the more drawn into the world of all the characters, unable to stop reading because I had to know more or know what happened next. I felt for Jen and hearing about her childhood broke my heart. If I have one complaint about this book it was the ending. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good ending and wrapped the major story line up. I guess I felt like there were some things not concluded for me. I’m hoping that there is another book or novella coming that continues Jess’s story because I want to know more about her life. I don’t want to say more and give anything away.
To conclude this review I think this is a great book with a great story. I know I’ll be picking up more of Lisa Wingate’s books.
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LibraryThing member LocoBooksellerShawna
I want to start off by saying that I wasn't sure if I would like this book since it is the first Christian Fiction book I've read. So needless to say I was a little hesitant. But MAN I couldn't put this book down!
This book is really two books in one, following people in two different centuries,
If I have one complaint about this book it was the ending. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good ending and wrapped the major story line up. I guess I felt like there were some things not concluded for me. I’m hoping that there is another book or novella coming that continues Jess’s story because I want to know more about her life. I don’t want to say more and give anything away.
To conclude this review I think this is a great book with a great story. I know I’ll be picking up more of Lisa Wingate’s books.
This book is really two books in one, following people in two different centuries,
Show More
but the author was flawless in her blending of the two. The more I read the more drawn into the world of all the characters, unable to stop reading because I had to know more or know what happened next. I felt for Jen and hearing about her childhood broke my heart. If I have one complaint about this book it was the ending. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good ending and wrapped the major story line up. I guess I felt like there were some things not concluded for me. I’m hoping that there is another book or novella coming that continues Jess’s story because I want to know more about her life. I don’t want to say more and give anything away.
To conclude this review I think this is a great book with a great story. I know I’ll be picking up more of Lisa Wingate’s books.
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LibraryThing member Virginia51
I so enjoyed both stories in this book. A New York book editor is handed a story that she needs to find the author of. She has many troubles but ends up back in the Appalachian mountains. She grew up here but was happy to leave. This time trying to find the author of the story helps her to get over
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her troubles that she had whoile growing up. I received this book from book fun.org for a fair and honest opinion. Show Less
LibraryThing member sparkleandchico
I received this book free as it was damaged. It contains a story within a story which can attract a wider audience as if you don't like one of the stories you may like the other. I read on the back cover that the author writes for the Christian market but I wouldn't describe this as a Christian
The main story is about an editor in New York who is sent to the mountain area in which she was raised to investigate a mysterious part manuscript that was left on her desk. The manuscript contains the second story.
I did enjoy reading this and it kept my interest but it wasn't a "stand out" book. It was a bit slow in places. I was a bit disappointed that more detail wasn't given about the end of the second story which was the more interesting of the two....about a mixed race woman that is rescued from abuse by a man who takes pity on her.
The book is clean and free of bad language, violence and sexual content. I would read another book by the author but I wouldn't rush to buy it.
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book, more contemporary fiction.The main story is about an editor in New York who is sent to the mountain area in which she was raised to investigate a mysterious part manuscript that was left on her desk. The manuscript contains the second story.
I did enjoy reading this and it kept my interest but it wasn't a "stand out" book. It was a bit slow in places. I was a bit disappointed that more detail wasn't given about the end of the second story which was the more interesting of the two....about a mixed race woman that is rescued from abuse by a man who takes pity on her.
The book is clean and free of bad language, violence and sexual content. I would read another book by the author but I wouldn't rush to buy it.
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LibraryThing member vintagebeckie
What a great experience I had being a part of Lisa Wingate’s Sisterhood of The Traveling Book. I was chosen to be a part of a group that read Lisa’s newest book The Story Keeper, due out in September. Sharing insights and stories of our own, we passed the book around. My group is still in the
Jenn Gibbs left her Appalachian roots behind when she moved to New York to pursue a career in publishing. When she takes a new job with Vida House, a mysterious manuscript from the infamous slush pile appears on her desk and she is swept into an intriguing story and again forced to revisit the haunts of her childhood. An elusive author and her demanding family keep Jenn in North Carolina longer than she would like, but she soon discovers that you cannot really escape your past.
Two stories in one kept me turning the pages of The Story Keeper. I was impressed with the many voices that Lisa employed in telling the stories. Lisa masterfully brings to life the places and peoples of Appalachia. Her characters are real and relatable, even Jenn’s sisters who live a life dedicated to a conservative Christian cult. I loved the theme of lives being a compilation of many stories.
The Story Keeper releases on September 1, so be sure to keep a watch out for it. You can pre-order it from Amazon too.
Highly Recommended.
Great for Book Clubs.
(Thanks to Lisa Wingate for the opportunity to read this book. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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process of reading and reflecting before the book heads back to Lisa in Texas. And while the Sisterhood is certainly special, The Story Keeper is a novel that you will not want to miss.Jenn Gibbs left her Appalachian roots behind when she moved to New York to pursue a career in publishing. When she takes a new job with Vida House, a mysterious manuscript from the infamous slush pile appears on her desk and she is swept into an intriguing story and again forced to revisit the haunts of her childhood. An elusive author and her demanding family keep Jenn in North Carolina longer than she would like, but she soon discovers that you cannot really escape your past.
Two stories in one kept me turning the pages of The Story Keeper. I was impressed with the many voices that Lisa employed in telling the stories. Lisa masterfully brings to life the places and peoples of Appalachia. Her characters are real and relatable, even Jenn’s sisters who live a life dedicated to a conservative Christian cult. I loved the theme of lives being a compilation of many stories.
The Story Keeper releases on September 1, so be sure to keep a watch out for it. You can pre-order it from Amazon too.
Highly Recommended.
Great for Book Clubs.
(Thanks to Lisa Wingate for the opportunity to read this book. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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LibraryThing member jothebookgirl
So I was thrilled to see that award-winning Lisa Wingate’s new novel, “The Story Keeper” (Tyndale, $14.99 paper), is also about Melungeons. It’s the story of a New York editor, Jen Gibbs, a native of the North Carolina mountains, who finds herself engrossed in an anonymously-written
What inspired the novel? I ask Wingate by email.
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manuscript about a mixed-race Melungeon girl trapped by dangerous men in a place Gibbs thought she’d left behind.What inspired the novel? I ask Wingate by email.
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LibraryThing member bookczuk
Good telling of two tales, set in my Appalachian mountains. Wish i could read the books of Evan's series!
LibraryThing member JillHannah
I listened to this audiobook and really enjoyed this glimpse into life in the Blue Ridge Mountains over the past few generations. As with other Lisa W. novels, this story is filled with detailed history and heartwarming characters.
Awards
Christy Awards (Nominee — Contemporary Romance — 2015)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
8 inches
ISBN
1414386893 / 9781414386898