{"id":6149,"date":"2026-04-23T11:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6149"},"modified":"2026-04-23T11:10:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:10:00","slug":"snakeroot-and-cohosh-by-cathy-schieffelin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6149","title":{"rendered":"Snakeroot and Cohosh by Cathy Schieffelin"},"content":{"rendered":"

When love meets its breaking point, redemption fights for a place to breathe.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Three months ago, Eva Hoskins fled from her husband in the middle of the night. Soaked, bruised, and carrying the scars of a painful past, she finds refuge in the small, snow-covered town of Helton. There, beneath the disguise of a young man named Enos Corbett, she takes work guiding research travelers through the wild forests of Appalachia, using the deep knowledge of herbs and plants she learned from her mother.<\/p>\n

Despite the rural isolation and the hard work of the 1950s, Eva begins, perhaps for the first time in her life, to understand independence, freedom, and the fragile, thrilling feeling of becoming her own person in a world that once caged her.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

But the past never stays buried for long. It always finds a way to follow.<\/p>\n

When her husband Luther finally tracks her down, he is determined to bring her home. He claims he\u2019s changed. That he is no longer the monster she fled from and is willing to do better. But Eva knows better than to take his word for it.<\/p>\n

As Luther tries to mend their broken marriage and reconnects with his past, Eva begins to see glimpses of the boy she once fell in love with. However, the question remains: Can Luther truly escape the darkness of his past? And will Eva ever fully trust the man who has once shattered her world?<\/p>\n

Snakeroot & Cohosh<\/em> is a stirring, heartfelt story of love, trauma, and redemption set in eastern Kentucky in 1953. The novel heals not only through its use of medicinal plants but through its characters as they face their deepest struggles and find healing in many different forms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schieffelin turns a steady gaze toward the cycle of abuse and offers a thoughtful look at how victims can sometimes turn into abusers themselves. The story doesn\u2019t excuse that behavior, but it does illuminate the psychological loops people can get trapped in, peeling back layers of abuse and trauma. Luther Hoskins, in particular, reflects this complexity. He shows how a person can be shaped by their environment and the struggle to separate love from control. His father taught him all the wrong lessons, and he grew into a man who didn\u2019t know how to love without hurting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of him wants to be better. Another part wants to punish her, be big and in charge, like Daddy taught him.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Snakeroot & Cohosh<\/em> delivers an intriguing lineup of strong female personalities. We see it directly through Eva and Addie, and we hear it echoed in the memories of Eva\u2019s mother. Schieffelin shows what strength looks like in many forms: quiet endurance, the courage to leave a dangerous situation, the wisdom passed down through generations, and the stubbornness to protect what matters most.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The novel does a great job of showing just how difficult it was for women in and around 1953: how limited their choices were and how much it cost them to claim such little independence.<\/p>\n

Appalachia also creates a solid background for the story.\u00a0 The snowy forests, tight-knit small towns, and economic struggles during that period gives context without overwhelming the characters\u2019 personal journeys. The dialogue and local slang have a nice ring and tone to them too, a sort of fancy country sound with words like, \u201cyou\u2019s,\u201d \u201cI\u2019s,\u201d and \u201cmissus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snakeroot & Cohosh <\/em>holds a mirror up to the choices we make, the pain we unconsciously and consciously inherit, and the strength it takes to choose love above all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post Snakeroot and Cohosh by Cathy Schieffelin<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When love meets its breaking point, redemption fights for a place to breathe. Three months ago, Eva Hoskins fled from her husband in the middle of the night. Soaked, bruised, and carrying the scars of a painful past, she finds refuge in the small, snow-covered town of Helton. There, beneath the disguise of a young […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6149"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6149\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}