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Tuesday, August 07, 2007

My review of A Tendering in the Storm by Jane Kirkpatrick...



From the Publisher:

Emma Giesy, a strong-willed German-American, believes her young family will thrive in the light of their newfound freedom, after she and her husband branch off from their close-knit and repressive religious community in the spring of 1856.

Determined to raise her children on her own terms, Emma suddenly finds herself alone and pregnant with her third child, struggling to keep her family secure in the remote coastal forest of the Washington Territory. With loss and disappointment as her fuel, she kindles a fire that soon threatens to consume her, making a series of poor choices that take her into dangerous relationships.

As clouds of despair close in, she must decide whether to continue in her own waning strength or to humble herself and accept help from the very people she once so eagerly left behind.

Based on a True Story

My review:


A Tendering in the Storm is a must-read for historical fiction lovers. If you want insight into the hardships from the 19th century pioneers who left everything to move west hoping for a better life, then you'll love this story. If you find oppressive religious groups intriguing, you'll want to check this story out. If you'd like to reflect on how few rights women had in the mid-1860s then this is the book for you! To quote a cliche, We've come a long way, baby!

After finding the author's bio and reading that she is a certified social worker, I now see where she got her insight for this book. No dysfunction is easy to understand. All people are complex. But there are certain truths that exist in human nature and the author insightfully captured them all. Her illumination of the human heart and certain domestic issues is superb. I can't say what those issues are or I'll blow part of the storyline, but I will say that the subtly of how people are lured from their good senses--because of sometimes desperate situations--is expertly shown in this novel.

I loved this story. It's real. It's deep. It's edgy...and it's not at all boring.

A Tendering in the Storm was published by Waterbrook and released in April 2007.

1 comment:

Jane said...

Hi Michelle, You made my day with your review of my book A Tendering in the Storm. I'd just read a review on another blog that bascially suggested I find that other occupation that mists around my head on those bad writing days....sewer cleaning, anyone? So thanks for seeing into the heart of this character and how grief can make us do strange things indeed; and for seeing that while not a happy ending, it is a hopeful ending for an ordinary woman making her way as we all must in this wilderness world. Keep writing yourself! Warmly, Jane

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