1929: Jonathan's Cross by M.L. Gardner - Book Review

"Every day we all wake up and struggle to put one foot in front of the other with no promise that at the end of the day, life will be any better. But you get up anyway. You keep breathing and hold on to faith that somehow, someday things are going to change for the better. Probably when we lease expect it." - Aryl Sullivan, p. 198

 What do you do when everything you’ve worked so hard for in life gets ripped away from you in the blink of an eye? Do you give up and throw yourself off the proverbial roof, or do you claw your way from the bottom of the pit and get back on top? This is what the characters of Jonathan’s Cross had to figure out the hard way, and it was a journey that was worth reading.

As we know, the book begins with the tragic Black Thursday event, the day that the Stock Market crashed back in 1929, causing thousands of people to lose everything that they had. It could be called one of the worst economic tragedies in the world, and in this book, our characters lost everything. The firm that they built from the ground up was wiped out, and they had to figure out how to survive with their wives, completely poor with no money to their name.

The character development in this book is one that was very realistic, even to the point of frustration. There were times when I wished that the characters could just listen to reason, and try to work things out. Then again, I wasn’t in their position, and I think that if I were in their shoes facing the exact same things, I would have probably reacted the same way. I believe that this was one of the reasons why I loved the book so much. Even if it meant me having to go through their heartache by witnessing it through words, I could suffer through it if it meant reconciliation at the end.

There were so many unexpected things that happened to this group. One minute, things seemed to be going better than before, everyone a little happier than before. Then, out of nowhere, a bomb goes off and it’s chaos all over again. It wasn’t anything completely out of this world, nothing that seemed to be forced, and those kinds of surprises are the ones that really tested the love that they had for each other. There were so many times where it seemed like things would end badly, but did it? You’ll have to read it to find out.

If you have any curiosity towards the Great Depression, want to read a story about overcoming struggles, or just want to read about real couples dealing with unfortunate circumstances in their own way, this is the story for you.

Rated: 5/5 Stars