Tag: Women's fiction

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Light on Snow, by Anita Shreve, 2004, Little, Brown and Company (Hachette Book Group USA)

Light on Snow
A baby found in the snow

Light on Snow sheds light on the heartbreaking reasons why a baby could be left abandoned. The baby isn’t the only victim of this crime.

Light on Snow is sobering and thought-provoking. Where has society gone wrong? When did compassion take leave? One might immediately blame the mother. But what about the father? What about the college rules? What about the parents of the mother? The church?

In Light on Snow, Anita Shreve skillfully pulls on a reader’s heartstrings through the characters. Written through the Point of View of a twelve-year-old girl who has lost her own baby sister and their mother in an accident. She falls in love with the baby and wishes her father would agree to keep her. But the story goes deeper, and I won’t spoil it on you.

I found Light on Snow in a little book exchange library. Thank you to whoever left it there to share with me. The book may be eleven years old but sadly, babies have been abandoned throughout history. Thank you, Anita Shreve, for bringing this societal issue to light through this touching story.

Click on the link below to see more reviews on Goodreads.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14965.Light_on_Snow

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Something Old and Something New, Pearl Ada Pridham, 2025, Winged Publications

Cover--Something Old and Something New
Something Old and Something New

Something Old and Something New. Life keeps going around and around again. What’s new to a young person now was once new to generations before. Sort of.

Jennifer suddenly learns that she is about to become a great grandmother. Already. At fifty-five. Concern for her young granddaughter fills her heart. How can she reach out to her and help her?

With plans in place to travel through the mountains for a visit with her daughter’s family, she hopes and prays for a connection with her granddaughter.

Knitting gives her a way to pour love from her heart to her granddaughter and coming grandchild. As she knits, she reminisces back to her own teen years.

Her husband also prepares a gift. But will their son-in-law allow the gifts to be kept? He’s been furious at his daughter for getting pregnant. Not wanting to raise another child. Jennifer and her husband hope to intervene and try to soften his heart.

Jennifer’s thoughts keep returning to the sixties when she and her friends were growing up. She’s always had a caring heart and done her best to help people as God gave her opportunity.

I wrote Something Old and Something New as a sequel to Something I Haven’t Told You. It’s the third book in the Love Shines Through series.

You can get more information about these books, order them, and leave a review on Amazon. They are available on Kindle and paperback. The link is: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D126BM7V?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_b_lnk&storeType=ebooks

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44 Charles Street, by Danielle Steel, 2012, Dell (Random House)

44 Charles Street
44 Charles Street

44 Charles Street is set in an artsy district of New York. Francesca, the main character, loves art and is living out her dream as co-owner of a gallery in which she helps new artists get a start. However, her business and life partner wants out. He helped her get the gallery going for five years, and now, seeing that it still isn’t making money, he wants to return to his law career. He wants to sell the house and gallery and start a family.

Francesca lets him go and finds a way to keep her life in the home she loves. The tenants she rents rooms to turn out to be quite a variety of people. They learn to love each other as family, through thick and thin.

I like how the author portrays a variety of personalities in the story, and how they interact. Their backgrounds, desires, and expectations. The ways they care for one another.

This book is written in an older style, from the point of view of the author as she tells the story. We as readers catch glimpses into the feelings of characters as told by Steele. This is different from recent writing styles in which authors write only from the point of view of one character in each scene.

Personally, I don’t mind this older writing style. It’s easy to follow, and the settings, characters and story line are interesting. Steele portrays well the life, values, belief systems and cultures of the time. 44 Charles Street could lead to a great discussion for a book club.

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Something I Haven’t Told You, by Pearl Ada Pridham, October 12, 2023, Winged Publications

Something I Haven’t Told You

Something I Haven’t Told You is a repeated theme in Alison’s story.

As an adult, she looks back over her teen years, from the time she falls in love for the first time and finds herself pregnant at the age of fourteen. She faces shame, her father’s rage, and life-altering decisions. But she finds support in her sister, mother, and others. Despite being jerked into adulthood, life is good.

I started writing this novel nine years ago, after some years of volunteering at a pregnancy centre. Alison is a purely fictional character. My aim was to show the various repercussions that affect not only the young girl but also her family and entire community. The reactions of family members, counselors, school, doctors, the church. What can be supportive, and what is the opposite of supportive. God’s grace and forgiveness.

I hope readers will not only enjoy the story but also learn how to best support someone in a similar situation.

Many thanks to Cynthia Hickey of Winged Publications and Diane Tatum, editor. Also, to my many supporters who have encouraged me on this writing journey.

Available now on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca to download. Free to Kindle subscribers. Click here to download the book or order in paperback.

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Back on Blossom Street, by Debbie Macomber, 2007, MIRA (Harlequin)

Back on Blossom Street
Back on Blossom Street

Another heart-warming story about Lydia and the friends she makes in her knitting classes. This time they are knitting prayer shawls. Each person is participating for a different reason and plans to use the shawl for a different purpose.

As they knit together, bonds form between them. Gradually their stories emerge and develop. They support one another in their struggles.

Chapters alternate between three Points of View: Lydia, Alix, and Colette. I met Lydia and Alix in the first book of the series. Although I haven’t read books 2 and 3, I didn’t notice anything missing as I picked up on their lives. This may be partly because of Macomber’s writing style. She ensures each story stands alone by subtly filling in bits of backstory. Colette is going through a complex period in her life, lending some intrigue to the story.

Macomber expertly integrates spiritual life lessons into the raw events of life like they happen, without glossing over actions, thoughts, feelings, and words. This is what I love about her writing. Plus, Blossom Street is in Seattle, not too far south of Western Canada where I live, so I can relate to the west-coast climate and culture she describes. Women of all ages are included among the characters, as well as the men in their lives. Themes are secrets, pregnancy, weddings, accidents, forgiving, bonding, death, and trust, interspersed with joys of life such as tea, seafood, and ocean breezes.

To learn more about Debbie Macomber and her novels, visit www.DebbieMacomber.com.

To learn more about the book or to order, tap on this link: https://amzn.to/3pa8F8D. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

To read other reviews on Goodreads, click here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5630440775.

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Abi of Cyrene; The Girl Who Loved Simon, by Mary Lou Cheatham, 2015

Who Were Abi and Simon of Cyrene?

Simon of Cyrene carried the cross of Christ. Who was he? Mary Lou Cheatham weaves a tale of his life as seen through the eyes of his wife, another obscure Bible character.

Abi of Cyrene

A beautiful woman from Nubia, Abi accompanies Simon, her betrothed, on a long journey via camel and boat to Cyrene, her new home in North Africa. Both are descendants of King David and Solomon. Abi is also a descendant of the Queen of Sheba. They proudly follow their Jewish traditions.

Simon is a trader, and travels far and wide. Abi stays home with his family, managing the estate and raising their sons, until the day comes when Simon takes them to celebrate Passover at the temple in Jerusalem.

The Passover Lamb

Abi hopes to sacrifice a Passover lamb for the forgiveness of her sins. But what is all the commotion going on when they arrive? Some sort of horrible rebellion, with people shouting for the King of the Jews to be crucified. Who is this man, and what has he done?

From the beginning of Abi’s tale, I was drawn in. What would become of her? Her experiences and thoughts became mine as I read.

Mary Lou Cheatham gives us a glimpse into the lives of the people at the time, personalized through the eyes of Abi. We learn how it may have been that Simon of Cyrene came to be the one to carry the cross of Christ, and the dynamic effect of the crucifixion and resurrection on this little family. What will it mean to them?

Visit Mary’s author page on Amazon.com to find this and other books by Mary Lou Cheatham.