Synopsis

Home.
For over three hundred years, that’s what the Hamilton family has called a shrinking swath of farmland in the Appalachian foothills of South Carolina.

Home.
That’s the failing tobacco farm where Walter and Maggie Hamilton choose to raise their three children. Walter has big plans to make the farm more profitable, but his plans are interrupted by World War II and family heartbreak. Walter returns from the war a changed man, and finds Maggie, too, has changed; neither of them for the better. But at least their family is together at…

Home.
More than anything, that’s where their eight-year-old son, Jimmy Hamilton, wants to be. However, after an unspeakable tragedy, he’s sent away from the only life he’s ever known—to live with a kindly uncle in North Carolina, far from…

Home.
That’s where Jimmy is finally going to be, unless fate has plans of its own…

A Song that Never Ends is the first installment of the Hamilton Place series, an epic family saga extending from the Great Depression to present day. Through war and peace, love and loss, triumph and tragedy; follow the Hamilton family on their journey from a run-down farm in South Carolina, through the jungles of Vietnam, to the top of the world in New York City, and beyond the gardens of stone at Arlington.

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Review

This is the first of two books in a series that primarily depicts life during WWII and Vietnam. It follows the Hamilton family and how they survive life after tragedy. The family is dysfunctional and handles things differently. It was an interesting look into this family, discovering their personalities and how they handled certain situations.

While the story focuses on Maggie and Walter, the parents, the son Jimmy/James, has a large role in this book. He is whip-smart, and they send him to live with his Uncle Howard after a death in the family. It is here that he begins to flourish. I loved watching him learn more about himself and the world around him. It was lacking at home with his family, primarily due to his older brother and the affection their mother gave to him. It was obvious that Maggie had her favorites.

While there is tragedy for several characters, it is a study of family life during this turbulent time, how they handled the war, family, and more.

I did feel a little disconnected from the book and the characters until I was further into the story. I think it really picked up for me when Jimmy went to live with his Uncle and observed how he changed during this time. My heart broke for Jimmy because each week, he would write a letter to his parents, and his mother would send it back “addressee unknown.” These letters will play a huge part in the second book, so they aren’t lost.

The book does have a little bit of a cliffhanger that left me wanting so much more. I am glad I had the next book ready to read because I needed to know how the story ended.

We give this book 4 paws up.

About the Author

Mark A. Gibson is a physician who practices Cardiology in the mountains of rural North Georgia. He was raised on a small farm in upstate South Carolina—the last postage-stamp sized sliver of a much larger parcel granted to the family by a land grant from King Charles II in 1665—and may or may not have once gotten in trouble for digging up his mom’s calla lily bed in search of the family’s long-lost charter.

Dr. Gibson graduated from the Citadel in Charleston, SC, with a BS in Biology. Afterward, he received his medical degree from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, SC. He received his Internal Medicine training through the University of Tennessee Medical System and Cardiology training through the Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center. He served for eight years on active duty with the US Air Force before leaving the military for private practice.

Although a cardiologist by profession, Dr. Gibson is a dreamer by nature. He is a self-styled oenophile who enjoys travel and fine food. In his spare time, he builds sandcastles and dreams of distant shores.

Roses in December represents Dr. Gibson’s second offering to the world of literature and the conclusion of his Hamilton Place Series. All previous publications have been of the professional, peer-reviewed, medical variety and make for lovely sleep aids.

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