Title: A Place Called The Way
Author: Corrine Ardoin
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
ISBN: 978-1684339952
Pages: 232
Genre: Adult Historical Fiction
Reviewed by: Michaela Gordoni

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A Place Called The Way is the third book in the Pine Valley Series by author Corrine Ardoin. It follows the families of The Way and observes how their lives unfold, how they are born, and how they pass away. This is a story that observes the people of an entire town, mainly spanning the first 70 years of the 20^th century. But in this book, one character is focused on a little more than the others: Little Jimmy Hart. Despite his mother, Candelaria’s, attempts to protect him, at a very young age Little Jimmy is severely physically abused by his cruel uncle. From then on, Little Jimmy cannot shake the pulsing anger and tragedy that has cloaked him since that fateful day.

The Way is a place that most don’t leave, but when there are those that do, they come back. Candelaria says it best, “A Place Called The Way: …where Truth awaits, where the life of our destined hopes invites us and brings us to our knees…The Way is what connects us all, one heart, one soul, one life, all One.”

This author does not ignore how the significance of abuse and other trauma can impact one’s mental health for the entirety of their life. Many fiction authors play on drama by creating a larger and more severe tragedy than what Little Jimmy has experienced but would write the effect it had on him as the same. Furthermore, many writers would have created a yearning for revenge in either Little Jimmy or his parents. The fact that Corrine Ardoin does not do this, but instead turns the result of tragedy towards Little Jimmy’s mental and emotional status and his mother’s sorrow, along with other elements of the novel, speaks to the fact that she is a realistic author, able to weave a work of fiction without indulging in any temptation of fantasy.

This novel highlights relationships and community while giving light emphasis on how culture changes with events and time, but more importantly, highlights how the characters themselves change. Historical fiction fans that like stories written from a broad and out-of-focus perspective that encompass many characters over a long period of time, will most certainly enjoy A Place Called The Way and the Pine Valley Series.