I really enjoyed this one. It has a unique plot, beautiful language and down-to-earth characters. The book demonstrates how God uses everyday experiences, seemingly random encounters to sanctify us and make us who He intended us to be. Sarah Loudin Thomas is an author I will watch for and read again.

Due to content (replacement profanity, replacement expletives, profanity, superstition, expletives, tobacco, gambling terms) that I do not support nor like to find in Christian fiction I will not be finishing nor reviewing The Finder of Forgotten Things by Sarah Loudin Thomas aside from here.

Sulley Harris survives by going town to town, pressing his luck, dowsing for water and raising false hopes. Until mysteriously his promises are delivered upon, and he begins uncovering secrets and finding things thought lost.

Set during the Depression, in Appalachia, the author brings a whimsy and folksy style of storytelling to the true life events of the Hawk's Nest Tunnel tragedy. The story brings together a cast of unlikely characters, who are each more than first meets the eye, as the story unfolds in surprising directions.

Gainey and Jeremiah were easy to like from the start, was they each have strong moral compasses and big hearts for others. Sulley is a walking contradiction in many ways, his actions and behavior baffling to those around him. I liked how the events challenged him to look at things differently.

Overall, this was an entertaining read, filled with heart, humor, loss, and new beginnings. It does a great job of dealing with difficult topics, focusing on the characters and their arcs, realistically bringing to life the setting and time period. A wholly enjoyable read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Jeremiah Weber, school teacher, sets out to find Sulley, a well dowser, who has skipped the town of Kline, WV after a couple false starts. The town wants satisfaction or their money returned. Sulley, who doesn't know he is being pursued, makes his way to and through other small, West Virginia towns, where he does odd jobs, camps out, and sometimes dowses for wells. Sulley finds himself with a new opportunity, granted by Gainey, a 50-something, unmarried woman who carries a sadness with her.
All three, Jeremiah, Gainey and Sulley are lacking satisfaction with their lives. Each is searching for something, beyond their normal, everyday routines.
The author also weaves in the true story of the Hawk's Next Tunnel construction project with its sad history and great loss of life. The Union Carbide company was in charge of building a tunnel to harness water power for electricity. Learn more at this link, but after you read the historical fiction book: https://hawksnestnames.org/#intro
I loved the book and thanks to Sarah Loudin Thomas for the great story. Her author's note was so true and I won't spoil it by quoting her words.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book was pretty interesting and enjoyable through the first forty-eight percent. Then I got lost on what the goal was, because it kept changing. I didn’t mind the first couple of changes, as sometimes a character’s goal does adjust along the way. But the number of huge shifts in goals for each of the leads in the story seemed to grow by the chapter. I felt lost and frustrated by this, so I closed out the book at the halfway mark.

At one point, Sulley claimed to have a “healthy respect” for God, but in the very next sentence he called God the irreverent name of “Big Guy.”

I loved the little girl who helped out in the store/post office that Gainey worked at. She brought a ray of joy that dimmed only when circumstances demanded it. Even then, she was the highlight for me.

Content: replacement profanity, replacement expletives, profanity, superstition, expletives, tobacco, gambling terms

A beautiful story of how God can bring beauty and hope out of tragedy and loss. The characters felt very real, especially for the time period, and I found myself loving them and their personal journeys. I really enjoyed how this book shed light on an often-forgotten tragedy and the lives of the people involved on a smaller scale.

I'd recommend this book to historical fiction readers looking for a clean read salted with hope and a dash of clean romance.

This most interesting book deals with life in the Depression-era of Appalachia. Thomas has created very strong characters with grit, yet tender and caring for others. One of the main characters is Sully, who by trade, is a water-witcher. He is a charmer and schemer who finds well water. More often he doesn’t find water and flees with the people’s money. Slowly he emerges as the Finder of lost things for others and in the process, becomes a very important character in the story. Then we have Eugenia, a middle-aged spinster, who has spunk and is respected by all. She is a strong woman who takes care of herself, her neighbors, and strangers. But she harbors a secret. It is so sad to read of what the depression caused men to do in finding work to support their families. As for water-witching, I have personally seen this work. It was an unreal experience to see the branch twist downward until the bark broke and twisted. All in all you will find this a very good book. I don’t know if this is a series, but I would like a book on “Sully” or Sullivan who is a lost soul longing to find his beginning…..
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. These are my own words.

I adore historical fiction, and this is such an interesting premise. I recommend because of the story itself, writing style, and its ability to transport you into a different world/time period.

"Though I've enjoyed the other books I've read by Sarah Loudin Thomas, none have impacted as deeply as The Finder of Forgotten Things! I will continue to mull over this lovely story for a long time, and now that I've read it, I want to voraciously consume every other book this author has written!

I'm familiar with the concept of dowsing - and have pretty much always written it off as another version of rainmaking or potions that will heal everything that ails a person. Chicanery. Yet it has always fascinated me and has me wondering if there are some people who really do have this ""gift""... I've never heard of it used to find people or other things, however.

Sully was my favorite character, even though he was suave and self-centered. And didn't feel any remorse over putting on a show of finding water for folks and taking their money - even when he didn't produce any results. You'll see why when you get to know him yourself.

The descriptions of the towns and the mountains and the people had me fully immersed in Depression-era Appalachia! Though I can't fathom living by camping out wherever I might happen to wander, or leaving a broken-down car by the side of the road or inviting strangers to sleep on my porch, none of this felt fantastic or unrealistic as I read about it.

It takes great talent to write about something like the Hawk's Nest Tunnel and have your story be so filled with hope - but that is exactly what the author accomplished. Instead of focusing on the bad, she focused on the changed lives and ended up with a story of hope and love. Yes, there was a little romantic love but this is mostly a story of love towards others and serving them in unexpected ways.

I highly recommend The Finder of Forgotten Things to lovers of historical fiction!


I was given a copy of this book. I was not required to give a favorable review nor was any money received for this review. All comments and opinions are my own."

What an excellent book! For once, this book sucked me in from very early on, which is quite unusual for me. Not a lighthearted read; the historical side was quite heavy, but I loved the grace and skill Thomas showed as she pulled the whole story together. This wasn’t an easy story to tell, but I’m grateful she chose to tell these men’s stories. They deserve to be remembered. Where it could have ended up quite discouraging, it had a sweet ending, and I think I’m the better for it. A great story, and highly recommended (aside from the water witching element, which I didn’t appreciate so much).

I was given a review copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

Sarah Loudin Thomas writes historical novels that honor the people and natural beauty of the Appalachian Mountains, and The Finder of Forgotten Things is her newest release.

Set in 1932, the plot features the real-life but little-known industrial tragedy caused by unsafe working conditions while creating the Hawks Nest Tunnel in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia. Desperate to earn income during the Depression, laborers cleared rock from the construction site with no protection to their respiratory systems. More than 750 men developed "tunnelitis" from inhaling high levels of silica and died as a result.

The novel centers around three unique characters: Sulley, a grifter who consistently promises more than he can deliver and leaves town before the consequences catch up to him; Jeremiah, a salt-of-the-earth man who is pursuing Sulley to gain restitution after he swindled his fellow townspeople; and Gainey, a postmistress who knows the hearts and needs of the locals and begins caring for the Gauley Bridge workers when one of her own is involved.

This story of second chances includes a found button, a lost Bible, wells that may or may not produce much-needed water, and a memorable array of secondary characters. Thank you to NetGalley, RB Media, and Bethany House for the review copies of the print and audiobook.

The Finder of Forgotten Things
by Sarah Loudin Thomas
Pub Date 07 Dec 2021 | Archive Date 25 Jan 2022
Bethany House, Bethany House Publishers
Christian | Historical Fiction


I am reviewing a copy of The Finder of Forgotten Things through Bethany House Publishers and Netgalley:




This book will take us back to 1932 and Sullivan Harris is on the run. He is an occasionally successful dowser who promised to help the people of Kline, West Virgina, he told them that he would find them water. But when the wells turned dry he disappeared with their cash just a step or two ahead of Jeremiah Weber, who was elected to run him down.





Gainey Floyd is the post mistress and she is suspicious of Sulley's abilities when he appears in her town but reconsiders after new wells fill with sweet water. Rather, it's Sulley who grows uneasy when his success makes folks wonder if he can find more than water like forgotten items or missing people. He lights out to escape such expectations and runs smack into something worse.






Hundreds of men were able to find jobs digging the Hawks Nest Tunnel--but what they thought was a blessing is killing them. But no one seems to care that these men are dying. Here, Sulley finds something new--a desire to help. With it, he becomes an unexpected catalyst, bringing Jeremiah and Gainey together to find what even he has forgotten: hope.



I give The Finder of Forgotten Things five out of five stars…


Happy Reading…

Well I made the mistake of reading this book just after finishing another historical fiction set in the same timeframe and also in the south...with a thread about racism. So periodically for about the first half of the book, I was getting confused and mixed up waiting for the characters and storyline from the other book.....my mistake. I don't usually do that, read books in the same genre back to back. This was lighter on the racism but still it was there and addressed. And I also very much appreciated that since this was Christian fiction, there wasn't the language. (That gets so taxing to read/listen to in many books these days.)

This book was actually quite refreshing...once I stopped get confusing between stories! What I appreciated the most was that even though there were trials and devastation and deaths, that there was an overall feeling of hope throughout the book. It could have been written to be such a depressing downer, being set in a town where there was tunnel digging that was making many of the townpeople horribly sick and even die. The author didn't downplay the tragedies at all, but there was still a feeling of hope to overcome. And I believe there was that feeling because the characters leaned so much on Jesus. Without being "preachy" as many Christian fictions I read in the past have done. Which is why, even as a Christian, I have kept away from much of the genre. In this case, I really appreciated that for the most part, you knew which characters were Christians, and there was prayer, but everything else was entirely story based. Nothing shoved down your throat. And in reality, I believe as a historical fiction, prayer and talk of Jesus would have happened a lot more back in this time period anyway, so that's quite believable and is left out of far too many other historical fiction.

I really enjoyed the three main characters, but my favorites were definitely Jeremiah and Sulley. Gainey was cute and she won me over. But I loved Jeremiah and Sulley from the very beginning. Just something so genuine about Jeremiah. And Sulley, well he's just loveable....a con-man, yes, but a loveable one. That's all I'll say without spoiling the story! Anyway, a great read in the end.

I've read every book Loudin has published and am always impressed with her historical research and her writing.

Like many of her books this one is based off real events in history but also includes a touch of miraculous events.

I got a little bogged down by the number of characters, but I did really like the history in the book. I wouldn't have minded a little more romance though.

If you like lyrical historical this is the book for you.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

“I reckon there’s a plan for everybody. Don’t go putting words into God’s mouth—they’re bound to be the wrong ones.”

One of the reasons I love reading historical fiction is that I get to learn more about different slices of history while enjoying a fictional story. This book is a great example. Sarah Loudin Thomas tells the tragic story about the digging of the Hawks Nest Tunnel in West Virginia, while simultaneously sharing a tale about three seemingly incongruous characters whose lives converge in that area.

Beautifully written and wonderfully thought-provoking, Thomas’s story is filled with colorful, carefully-crafted, realistic characters. As I came to know these characters, my opinion of them changed as their backgrounds and experiences emerged. Sully, Jeremiah, and Gainey are all multi-layered, and I enjoyed meeting them and going along with them on their journey.

“Other people’s expectations can make you do all sorts of things against your better judgment.”

I’ve enjoyed all of this author’s books. She is a master at tucking deep meaning into what may seem at first a simple tale. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy thought-provoking historical fiction.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy from Bethany House Publishing. All opinions are my own.

In a Nutshell: A historical fiction that charms you and haunts you at the same time. It throws light on the 1930s Hawks Nest tunnel disaster, though this isn’t the main focus of the story.

Story:
1932, West Virginia, Sullivan (Sulley) Harris is a dowser who is on the run, because he promised the people of Kline that he will find them water in exchange for a high sum but his indicated location turned out to be dry. Jeremiah Weber, a citizen of Kline, is appointed by the townspeople to locate Sulley and retrieve their money.
More than a hundred miles away, Gainey Floyd is a postmistress in Mount Lookout. She is highly suspicious of the newcomer to town, Sulley. But when even his claims turn out to be correct, she is not able to get rid of her instinctive feeling of distrust.
Near to Mt. Lookout is the construction of the Hawks Nest tunnel, where thousands of unemployed labourers (white and coloured) dealing with the post-depression economy have assembled to dig a tunnel for a hydroelectric project.
How the lives of Sulley, Gainey, and Jeremiah intertwine against the background of the Hawks Nest incident forms the crux of the story.

I was somehow under the impression that the Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster was the prime focus of the novel. (I don’t know from where I got this idea in my head!) So when I found that the tunnel incident was one of the secondary plots unfolding in the background as against the personal lives of the main trio, I was a bit disappointed. Once I realigned my expectations, I found myself relishing the book a lot more. If you want information about the disaster, you will certainly get it. But if you want an in-depth look much beyond how traumatic the working conditions were, the book touches upon this aspect only to a certain extent. Must say, even this limited content is enough to make you feel suffocated; it’s so horrifying. There was a lot of manipulation of the workers (both black and white) and yet within this manipulation too, there was preferential discrimination, both in the treatment meted out during their employment and in the meagre compensation later provided.

(One fact that at least my fellow Indians would be interested in knowing is that the company behind the Hawks tunnel construction was none other than Union Carbide. Yup, the very one responsible for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984. How sad that this corporation has been responsible for two such major industrial disasters and has still escaped almost scot-free!)

The three main characters are quite interestingly carved. All of them seem to have hidden layers. Gainey seems to be a strong and independent woman who doesn’t fit into the mould of a typical historical fiction leading lady. Jeremiah is practical and resourceful, not afraid of hard labour, and seems to have spent his life working to make others happy. Sulley seems to be using his charm to get out of troublesome situations in the easiest way possible but soon, it is easy to see that this is just a façade to hide deeper wounds. I just wish the ages of the characters had been made clear right at the start. This detail helps so much in picturing them better. To a certain extent, I understand why the author didn’t reveal Gainey’s age outright because this would have resolved one of the key mysteries of the book. But the lack of detail did impact my reading because at the start, I presumed all three of them to be in the same age-decade and then found myself constantly revising the ages of Gainey and Jeremiah based on the vague textual clues such as “woman of her age”.

There are plenty of beautiful themes in the book, not surprising as the genre is Christian fiction. So the story touches upon love, unbiasedness, sacrifice, understanding, forgiveness, cooperation and justice in equal measures. It also subtly incorporated racial injustice within the narrative. I didn’t expect romance to be a part of the storyline but it doesn’t go (much) over the top, and it is middle-aged romance, quite uncommon for a historical fiction novel. The author’s note at the end is touching and explains a lot of her writing choices, including the reason for integrating romance in the otherwise hard-hitting storyline. I increased my rating after reading her note because I understood better why she approached this novel the way she did and appreciated her decision.

Overall, this is a beautifully written story that hurts and heals in equal measures. I loved how it balanced the industrial tragedy with the personal struggles of the characters. The book uses the time period, the location and the historical details perfectly. You might be overwhelmed by the number of characters at the start, but things soon fall into place, so just go with the flow. The book is 350 pages long but it is a decently quick read, not rushed and yet not dragged.

You may pick up this book for various reasons because it has a lot going for it. But one of the foremost reasons has to be to know more about an industrial disaster and the labour discrimination at the worksite that has almost been forgotten. Sarah Loudin Thomas is an author whose name was new to me prior to this book. I shall certainly keep an eye on her works now onwards.

A strong 4.25 stars from me.

My thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for the ARC of “The Finder of Forgotten Things”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

This story is so beautifully written. Having been born and raised in upstate New York and then moving west as an adult, I've never been to West Virginia, and yet, Sarah Loudin Thomas described the setting and the time period so well that it felt completely familiar. As for the characters, well, I might not have much in common with them at first glance, but Thomas made me feel so connected to them that I would go to war for these people! I seriously just was hooked and cared so much about them. There are lots of authors who make me laugh or entertain me, but Sarah Loudin Thomas makes me FEEL in ways few other authors do. It was a pleasure to read this book.
4.5 stars.

I read an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The author said she wanted to tell the story of Hawk’s Nest Tunnel, and she’s done a great job. Set during the Great Depression, men flocked to any job that promised a decent wage, so hundreds of men went and worked at Hawks Nest Tunnel. What they found was not the pay they thought, but a disease that killed many of them. In this historical fiction the author’s woven a story where the three main characters, through their own stories, tell us the story of what happened at the tunnel. Sulley is a dowser who is only sometimes successful and runs when he’s not; Jeremiah is the one chosen to hunt down Sulley after he failed to find water for the residents of Kline but ran off with their money; and Gainey is the Postmistress of Mount Lookout who both men want to impress.

The Finder of Forgotten Things tells the tragic story of the Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster with endearing characters and powerful spiritual truths. Like many other readers, I had never heard of this dangerous industrial project that killed hundreds of poor workers in the 1930s. While the true story of what happened is tragic, this was still a sweet, enjoyable book. The author did a wonderful job of presenting the historical facts while still sharing a message of hope, forgiveness, and redemption. I loved watching Jeremiah and Gainey's unexpected romance unfold, and Sulley's journey to finally finding a place to belong. This book is sure to please fans of historical fiction and those who enjoy rich, character-driven stories.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Sarah Loudin Thomas' latest book centers around what is considered the worst industrial accident in U.S. History, the Hawk's Nest Tunnel disaster. Personally, I do not understand how it can be called an accident as the death toll of an estimated 764 men was due to willful negligence and disregard for the health and lives of the workers building the tunnel. The Hawk's Nest Tunnel was built in the 1930s in West Virginia by Union Carbide. Many men, desperate for work, came to work in the tunnel only to die of silicosis from breathing in the thick dust stirred up by the tunnel's construction, too many of whom were buried in unmarked graves in an isolated cornfield outside of Summersville, West Virginia.

Alongside such horror and sorrow, Thomas was able to skillfully tell a tale of resilience and love, of creating family where none existed. She has created a tale of hope, for which I am grateful, as I am also grateful to have received a complimentary copy of The Finder of Forgotten Things from Bethany House via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own, and it is my opinion that this book is a special treasure.