Return to Sandy Creek

by Mollie Bickle Cardwell

Inspired by old stories and decaying, stone buildings that sit empty and forgotten, Return to Sandy Creek is the history of the people within those walls, who sometimes rose to extraordinary heights to overcome the hardships and adversity encountered in the settlement of this country. The rewarding study of family history and relocating to the area where Sandy Creek winds through the countryside, prompted the author to share the fictionalized stories of these tough and endearing characters and events.

Genres: Historical Fiction

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 2014

About the author

Mollie Bickle Cardwell’s mother and grandmother lived many of the stories told within the pages of Return to Sandy Creek.

The highways and by-ways of the Texas Hill Country, from San Angelo to Houston, are home to this fourth generation Texan. It was along one of those highways, during a long drive to San Angelo, that her novel began to unfold. As her retirement from a career in banking approached, the story continued to grow and the characters came to life.

A move to the area where her husband’s ancestors had owned and lost a ranch near Sandy Creek brought her story full circle.

There is no end to history, so there is no end to Return to Sandy Creek. Families do go on, as do their memories and stories, often crossing the same paths as their ancestors.

Reviews

[Nancy Luebke · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this read, it was more a history, sort of a saga of a couple of families that were intertwined within a little community that was formed from people moving west, and died because the railroad was not run alongside it as it went west. I found it interesting that it introduced technology at various times. The ending went fast and was a little confusing to keep the generations straight.

[Katrina Knittle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads win. Will read and review once received.

Just finished reading this book and I was really impressed. The story you find in this book is exciting from the beginning until the very end. The book is filled with romance, history, and tragedy. The book flowed nicely and the characters were all very interesting. While reading this book I felt like I was with the characters and experiecing everything they went through. By the end of the book I fell for it even more.

[Louise Wardell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won this book on Goodreads
Great characters that intertwine. Very good historic story about families moving west. Molllie Bickle Cardwell brings the story alive in showing us what hardships theses families went through and the choices they had to make.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely, if EVER, read fiction. I tried this on because of the history of the Texas Hill Country. I found it engrossing from the first chapter. I would put this in the category of Historical Fiction. The characters kept you interested in seeing where their life and adventures took them.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes to have some stories while learning a bit of history. Thanks, Ms Cardwell, for an entertaining book.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a good story with a lot of subplots, but the last chapter or 2 just sped up - years ahead leaving out a lot.