This first review of Meadowlark Songs: A Motherline Legacy is such a welcome gift!
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Just Bob from WI
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2025
Verified Purchase
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Meadowlark Songs is the capstone of Joy Neal Kidney’s stories about her family in Iowa. Her first four books detailed the history of this family based on her grandmother’s letters and Kidney’s painstaking research. In this present book, she traces her motherline back seven generations, and in poetic language, reveals the strength, faith, and perseverance of women who faced life with grit and determination. The words and connections are powerful, such as when she relates her own eighth grade graduation:
“I was handed a diploma by Dr. Chapler,
who delivered me fourteen years earlier,
who had patched up two of the Barrow gang
after the 1933 shootout in Dexfield Park.”
who delivered me fourteen years earlier,
who had patched up two of the Barrow gang
after the 1933 shootout in Dexfield Park.”
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I was once again amazed at the resilience of these Iowa folk, and Kidney’s ability to communicate not just the facts, but the feel of lives well-lived despite the hardships faced by each generation. Thank God for her efforts in recording the life of this one family whose hard work and character represent what truly makes America great.
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“Just Bob from WI” is Robert Froelich who has written his own compelling redemption story in Aimless Life, Awesome God. He has also recorded stories for Our American Stories, including a couple of amusing ones where unexpected challenges come up after he agrees to take a trip with a big truck.
You must be so happy with this review. I especially agreed with Bob’s line, “I was once again amazed at the resilience of these Iowa folk,..”
Oh, what a gift, especially since I’ve been busy with medical tests (one leads to two more. . . ).
I hate to have tests, each one finds something different!
Celebrating your every success!
Thank you, Annette!
Congratulations, Joy. That’s amazing that the person who delivered you was the same one to hand you your diploma. Talk about coming full circle.
And the Barrow gang was Bonnie and Clyde, Clyde’s brother Buck and his wife, and their driver! We had an 8th grade party in Dexfield Park where the shootout had been.
A lovely review, Joy. Congratulations.
Thank you, John. A real gift!
So happy for you, Joy! 🥰
Thank you, Vicki!
Congratulations on your first review for Meadowlark Songs!! (My mother would have loved the book.) Sharing to help spread the word.
Bless you, Liz!
Wonderful review! Congratulations!
Thank you, Linda.
Bob beautifully sums up the impact of your books: “Thank God for her efforts in recording the life of this one family whose hard work and character represent what truly makes America great.” This is a fabulous review, Joy, and well deserved. 🙂
Yes, what a gift!