Return to Rocky Gap


Fiction - Historical - Event/Era
247 Pages
Reviewed on 07/22/2013
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

As a child, my family spent nearly every summer visiting relatives in a small, rural community in Arkansas. Finding magic in this place, it is the setting for many of my novels.

For seven years, I owned Kindred Books. Being an independent bookseller gave me a love of all genres. I've written: Historical Fiction, Native American Fiction, Romance, Mystery, Young Adult, and a Children's book. My love for reading takes me to places far and wide, which is something I strive to do for my readers.

I'm happily married and the mother of two boys. My debut novel Return to Rocky Gap is now available in print and for Kindle and Nook.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Alice Recker for Readers' Favorite

Toni Wyatt Morrow’s book, Return to Rocky Gap, portrays one family’s hardships and triumphs during the Great Depression. Amelia Monroe’s personal story is one of joys and accomplishments in the backwoods of Arkansas, against seemingly impossible odds. In her later years, she experiences Alzheimer’s disease. Only her family and those who care for her are left in the real darkness of her illness. Amelia’s comforting world becomes sharp memories of Rocky Gap as she relives a world apart from those around her. She has met and married the man of her dreams. Together they have three daughters. Amelia and Elmer courageously find their way through the Depression until Elmer is called to the army to serve overseas. For the first time, Amelia is alone to care for her family. She and her children move to town until Elmer comes home. By now he has seen the world and convinces Amelia to leave the only life she has known and move to Illinois. When Elmer becomes ill and dies, the devastating disease that will ultimately end Amelia’s life has already hit her. She retreats to her refuge in Rocky Gap, the only world real to her.

Return to Rocky Gap is a poignant story of the poverty and hardships many experienced during the 1930s and 1940s. The author goes further in entwining the devastating disease of Alzheimer’s and its effect on the sufferer. Morrow displays a unique craft in the ability to do this through explicit scenes and dialogue that bring forth characterizations in a way that the reader is drawn into the narrative completely. When Morrow tells the story, we can easily picture the daily lives of those in the back hills of Arkansas, trying to live fulfilling lives in spite of poverty. Toni Wyatt Morrow draws from a storehouse of history, reminding us of the importance of rediscovering the contributions of those who bore profound adversities so hard to understand in today’s world. I look forward to reading more historical fiction from this author.