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Morris was the first Christian fiction writer I read and this the first series. I picked the first in the series (The Homeplace) up in a Christian bookshop and enjoyed it so much that I bought the rest of the series of 4. The story is set around a Christian family living in a simple rural area. It is about the various trials they experience due to death and absence of key members of the family for various reasons. I especially liked the sense of community encapsulated in the series and that everything is linked back to the strong Christian faith of the lead characters. There is also a romantic storyline running throughout which doesn't take centre stage but is another reason to keep reading. I read the series twice over the last 5 years and it has become a favourite. Recommended for anyone who wants to read something wholesome that keeps the attention. ( )

(2006) (SERIES)

This second book of the Singing River series finds now seventeen-year-old Lanie continuing to be both mother and father to her four younger siblings, while struggling with matters of faith and the heart. Her town of Fairhope is turned upside down when the interim preacher roars in on a motorcycle, changing even the most hardened of hearts.

Though not as strong as the first book in the series, The Homeplace, The Dream follows the lives of the Freeman children as they struggle to survive life without a father during the Great Depression. The characters introduced lend a freshness to the story that add new dimension to the familiar interactions of the townfolk, particularly with the arrival of the young preacher. The Dream has an "Andy Griffith-like" quality to it, and draws the reader to root for the Freeman family through the good and the bad.