Wedding Bells Ahead

Title: Wedding Bells Ahead
Author: Arleta Richardson
Series: Grandma’s Attic, book 7
Major Themes: Michigan, Pioneer Life, School
Synopsis: The year she is 19 is very eventful for Mabel, as she teaches her second year of school and prepares for her wedding.

The original title of this book was Nineteen and Wedding Bells Ahead. Mabel and Sarah Jane are now both 19, and teaching for their second year in schools fairly close to each other. As usual, life is never dull.

Mabel is now living with Augusta Harris, a spinster noted for saying exactly what she thinks. Mabel is not left guessing about what Augusta will do when Jerome, a newcomer to the community, wants to buy some of her property for a lumber mill—she was born on her property and she will die on it! Unexpected papers come to light, however, when a tree is blown over in a storm. Before showing her the papers, Len, Mabel and Jerome do some investigating. When they present her with the new findings, she, and another family in the community are faced with hard decisions. Will they act as Jesus would or as most people around them in the world would? As an atheist, Jerome is convinced that they will go after money—but will they? Or will he see Jesus’ love in action?

Then there is Elizabeth Lawton. How should Mabel respond to her, and the way she is apparently still trying to get Len to marry her? Can Mabel continue acting in a Christ-like manner, or will she lose her temper this time?

Wedding Bells Ahead caught the interest of everyone in my family, from the 17-year-old who had never read this book before down to the 6-year-old. The characters are so real, and the situations they find themselves in so exciting, that I was asked frequently for another chapter. You’ll enjoy reading about Mabel as she steps into adulthood—and you’ll be as surprised as she was by her mother’s announcement in the beginning of the book!

No warnings!