|
CRoB Readers Club-New! Between the Lines-New! Fiction Reviews Non-Fiction Reviews Articles Children's Books Classics Short Stories CRoB Links, Sponsors and Stores Parents Guide-New! Search the Review
|
|
 
Get Free Books - Become a Reviewer!
Authors and Publicists: Help Spread the Word- Link to Us Visit Our Parent Company, WhiteFire Printing.
|
Time has gone by, but it hasn’t exactly healed all wounds in Maranatha’s life. In DeMuth’s first novel, Watching the Tree Limbs, our young heroine suffered an abuse that is still haunting her many years later. Now seventeen, Maranatha can never quite shake the feeling that all those years ago General marked her when he raped her, that now everyone can see her shame. And though she found Jesus way back when, under the pecan tree, she can never quite convince herself that He really loves her. Why would He? It’s all her fault that so many bad things have happened to those she loved—first the deaths of her family that filled her childhood, and now her Uncle Zane has suffered a stroke that leaves him a different man. Wishing on Dandelions is a piercing story of a girl too scared to be a woman. Though she thinks she might be in love, the thought of actually trusting a man with that part of her heart makes Maranatha ill. To make matters worse, it’s Charlie she’s fallen for—Charlie, the son of her uncle’s housekeeper, a black boy that everyone says she shouldn’t mix with. Faced with the community’s racism on top of her guilt, Maranatha feels closed in on all sides. And it doesn’t help that Uncle Zane has married Georgeanne, who seems bent on ripping Maranatha from her home. Where was Jesus when everything started falling apart? Does Charlie know about her past? And will she have the courage to face it again if it can bring justice to another monster? Wishing on Dandelions is a beautiful story that easily stands on its own apart from Watching the Tree Limbs. It deals with the ugly sides of life, abuse and guilt and prejudice, with such a well-placed touch that I felt a stirring of whimsy in with all of Maranatha’s pain. The story itself is wonderfully crafted, keeps the pages turning, and manages to explain what came before through the action of the now. What really shines is the way she tells the story, though. Mary E. DeMuth’s pen flows with vividity and ingenuity, and her words are some of the best I’ve ever seen put to paper. The characters are all unique and realistic, from Camillia with her truth-poems to Old Mac with his archaic store and generous spirit. If you’ve read Watching the Tree Limbs, you can’t miss Wishing on Dandelions, and if you haven’t, you ought to pick it up anyway—might as well pick up them both, for that matter. Though the topic is difficult, these books shine with the love of the Lord and the grace He pours out on His children, even the ones too hurt to trust Him fully. Maranatha likes to blow away the fluff of a dandelion past its prime and whisper a prayer that Jesus will show her He loves her. As you turn the pages of this book, you’ll see with the clarity of life how He proves Himself faithful. Publisher: NavPress Visit Mary E.
DeMuth's websites at: |
|
