Review: Sweet Mercy

Sweet Mercy

About the Book:

When Eve Marryat's father is laid off from the Ford Motor Company in 1931, he is forced to support his family by leaving St. Paul, Minnesota, and moving back to his Ohio roots. Eve's uncle Cyrus has invited the family to live and work at his Marryat Island Ballroom and Lodge. 

St. Paul seemed like a haven for gangsters, and Eve had grown fearful of living there. At seventeen, she considers her family to be "good people." They aren't lawbreakers and criminals like so many people in her old neighborhood. Thrilled to be moving to a "safe haven," Eve is blissfully unaware that her uncle's lodge is a transfer station for illegal liquor smuggled from Canada. 

Eve settles in to work and makes new friends, including an enigmatic but affecting young man. But when the reality of her situation finally becomes clear, Eve is faced with a dilemma. How can she ignore what is happening right under their very noses? Yet can she risk everything by condemning the man whose love and generosity is keeping her and her family from ruin?

My Comments:

Sweet Mercy is a wonderful example of Christian fiction at its best.  It takes an issue--good people doing bad things-and explores it within a novel with characters who have real feelings and make decision in the imperfect manner most of us do.  From remembering that Al Capone helped her up when she fell roller skating, to learning that her first love is involved in bootlegging, to realizing that bootleggers wouldn't bootleg without customers, Eve has to examine right and wrong and realize that all of us can be the man in the front of the synagogue, and that all of us should be the person at the back begging for mercy.  Right and wrong are so easy to see when they are committed by strangers; when it is us or those we love, our vision is often blurry.

Often when Christian fiction has Catholic characters they either make them almost Evangelical Protestants or else make them into pitiable folks who just don't get it.  I'm happy to say that Ann Tatlock does neither in this book.  Another character gives Eve a St. Rita medal and tells her that St. Rita is the patron saint of the lonely.  He explains patron saints rather well.  A Catholic funeral is also described and while I don't know enough about Catholic funerals of that era to know if the details (which were few) were all right, the overall tone was respectful.

I'm not usually one to rave about the writing in a book, but this will be one of the exceptions.  I loved Tatlock's writing and would find myself reading bits out loud because I loved the way they sounded.  Yes, this one gets one of the few A's I give books.  I definitely recommend it.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.  

My Review: Firefly Island

Firefly Island

About the Book:

At thirty-four, congressional staffer Mallory Hale is about to embark on an adventure completely off the map. After a whirlwind romance, she is hopelessly in love with two men--fortunately, they're related. Daniel Everson and his little boy, Nick, are a package deal, and Mallory suddenly can't imagine her future without them.

Mallory couldn't be more shocked when Daniel asks her to marry him, move to Texas, and form a family with him and motherless Nick. The idea is both thrilling and terrifying. 

Mallory takes a leap of faith and begins a sweet, mishap-filled journey into ranch living, Moses Lake society, and a marriage that at times reminds her of the mail-order-bride stories. But despite the wild adventure of her new life, she discovers secrets and questions beneath her rosy new life. Can she find answers on Firefly Island, a little chunk of property just off the lakeshore, where mysterious lights glisten at night?

My Comments:

When I started this book, my initial impression was "this lady can write!"  I loved the phraseology, the descriptions, the way Lisa Wingate used language.  That's not normal for me. Most of the time I see the language as a medium, not noticeable unless it is extraordinarily good or bad.  

Most romance novels end with a wedding; this love story includes the wedding but takes place mostly after the wedding, and it deals with the problems newlyweds face, particularly newlyweds who have to give up their old life to embrace the new.  

Mallory ends up as a blogger, "Frontier Woman" who writes about her life in this small remote town.  As a blogger I had to smile when she'd check her stats and get excited to learn that someone was reading what she was writing.  

The book sort of slowly meanders through Mallory adapting to this new life, and then it seems, almost suddenly, it ramps into high gear with a mysterious accident and some investigation that only someone with Mallory's specific set of contacts and knowledge would be able to do before wrapping up neatly.  Without giving anything away, it was just too tidy.  

The term "Christian fiction" covers the waterfront, but in this case it means a mention of churchgoing (but no sermons) and a Bible quote coming to Mallory in a dream.  Unless any mention of religion bothers you, the religion in this book shouldn't be a problem for you.  

I'd like to thank Bethany House Publishers for providing a complimentary review copy.  Grade:  B.

Review: The Air We Breathe

Air We Breathe, The

About the Book:

Seventeen-year-old Molly Fisk does not go outside. She's ruled by anxiety and only feels safe in the tiny tourist-town museum she and her mother run and call home. Yearning to live free but unable to overcome deep wounds from her past, she stays hidden away. Then the chance arrival of a woman Molly knew six years ago changes everything. 

Six years ago, newly single Claire Rodriguez was an empty shell. Only in the unique friendship she strikes up with a young girl--a silent girl who'll only talk to Claire--does she see the possibility of healing. But one day the girl and her mother vanish, their house abandoned. What happened that drove them away? And how can Claire now offer Molly the same chance at finding a life anew?

My Comments:

Sometimes you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I'm going to be grown-up enough to admit that may be what happened to this book.  I just finished another book (which will be reviewed in February) that had what I considered gratuitous anti-Catholicism and I only knocked it down a couple of notches for it; this one I'm giving up on after 50 pages.  Probably had I read it first, the rankings would be reversed.  In short, for apparently no reason (and perhaps there is a reason that would become apparent if I read the whole book) one of the teen characters mentions to another that his family is Catholic and just doesn't get him, the good Bible-reading Baptist that he is.  Why does Christa Parrish make his family Catholic?  Somehow I doubt this book is about him  returning to the faith of his birth, or about him bringing her to Catholicism.  If the publisher or author wants to tell me I'm wrong about this, I'll be glad to finish the book at that point.

The book has chapters titled by the names of characters and moves between 2002 and 2009.  I really liked the writing style and I'm sure there are those who will enjoy the book.  DNF

I' d like to thank the publisher for providing a review copy.  It should be obvious that I am not obligated to write a positive review.