My Take on Daisy Chain
February 27, 2009
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Zondervan (March 1, 2009)
by
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mary E. DeMuth is an expert in Pioneer Parenting. She enables Christian parents to navigate our changing culture when their families left no good faith examples to follow.
Her parenting books include Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture (Harvest House, 2007), Building the Christian Family You Never Had (WaterBrook, 2006), and Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God (Harvest House, 2005).
Mary also inspires people to face their trials through her real-to-life novels, Watching The Tree Limbs
(nominated for a Christy Award) and Wishing On Dandelions (NavPress, 2006).
Mary has spoken at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, the ACFW Conference, the Colorado Christian Writers Conference, and at various churches and church planting ministries. Mary and her husband, Patrick, reside in Texas with their three children. They recently returned from breaking new spiritual ground in Southern France, and planting a church.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The abrupt disappearance of young Daisy Chance from a small Texas town in 1973 spins three lives out of control—Jed, whose guilt over not protecting his friend Daisy strangles him; Emory Chance, who blames her own choices for her daughter’s demise; and Ouisie Pepper, who is plagued by headaches while pierced by the shattered pieces of a family in crisis.
In this first book in the Defiance, Texas Trilogy, fourteen-year-old Jed Pepper has a sickening secret: He’s convinced it’s his fault his best friend Daisy went missing. Jed’s pain sends him on a quest for answers to mysteries woven through the fabric of his own life and the lives of the families of Defiance, Texas. When he finally confronts the terrible truths he’s been denying all his life, Jed must choose between rebellion and love, anger and freedom.
Daisy Chain is an achingly beautiful southern coming-of-age story crafted by a bright new literary talent. It offers a haunting yet hopeful backdrop for human depravity and beauty, for terrible secrets and God’s surprising redemption.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Daisy Chain, go HERE
Sally Says:
This is a hard review to write. In fact, I went to a number of other CFBA blogs to see what others thought about the book.
First, I loved Mary DeMuth’s debut series, Watching the Tree Limbs and Wishing on Dandelions. Mary’s a talented writer who doesn’t shy away from the painful parts of life but uses them to point the reader to hope.
And in Daisy Chain those painful bits of life are here again. Jed Pepper, the book’s hero, is the son of a pastor who is brutal to his children and wife. As I read, I found myself getting very angry with Jed’s dad and reading faster and faster, just waiting for someone to catch Hap in his violence and rescue his family. I found myself getting angry with his wife for letting it continue. And I found myself angry with the church members who fell for Hap’s hypocrisy.
And then of course there’s the question of what happened to Jed’s friend Daisy. Jed feels responsible for her disappearance since he didn’t see her safely home the evening she vanished.
What bothered me about the story was the way the book ended. I knew this was the first in a trilogy, but I didn’t expect to reach the end of the book without a single plot question answered. Not one! I actually went back and reread a few pages, thinking I’d read too fast and missed something.
That being said, Daisy Chain is still a great book. Mary has a melodic way with words. She knows how to create real people out of nothing more than letters, and I will be reading the second (and probably third) book to find out what happens.
But I do wish something had been resolved at the end of the book. I wish we hadn’t been left hanging as badly as we were.
So do I recommend you read Daisy Chain? I do. Just take a deep breath and be prepared to wait a few months to find out what comes next.
Word Gets Around
February 6, 2009
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Bethany House (February 1, 2009)
by
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lisa Wingate lives in central Texas where she is a popular inspirational speaker, magazine columnist, and national bestselling author of several books. Her novel, Tending Roses, received dozens of five-star reviews, sold out ten printings for New York publisher, Penguin Putnam, and went on to become a national bestselling book. Tending Roses was a selection of the Readers Club of America, and is currently in its tenth printing.
The Tending Roses series continued with Good Hope Road, The Language of Sycamores, Drenched In Light, and A Thousand Voices. In 2003, Lisa’s Texas Hill Country series began with Texas Cooking, and continued with Lone Star Café, which was awarded a gold medal by RT BOOKCLUB magazine and was hailed by Publisher’s Weekly as “A charmingly nostalgic treat.” The series concluded with Over the Moon at the Big Lizard Diner.
Lisa is now working on a new set of small-town Texas novels for Bethany House Publishers. The series debuted with Talk of The Town and continued with Word Gets Around. A new series is also underway for Penguin Group NAL, beginning with A Month of Summer (July 2008), and continuing with The Summer Kitchen in July, 2009. Lisa’s works have been featured by the National Reader’s Club of America, AOL Book Picks, Doubleday Book Club, The Literary Guild, American Profiles, and have been chosen for the LORIES best Published Fiction Award.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When Romance Is In the Air, Word Gets Around Lauren Eldridge thought she’d wiped the dust of Daily, Texas, off her boots forever. Screenwriter Nate Heath thought he was out of second chances. Life’s never that predictable, though. Cajoled by her father, Lauren is back in town helping train a skittish race horse set to star in a Hollywood film. But the handsome screenwriter gives her more trouble than the horse. And Nate is realizing there’s a spark of magic in the project–and in the eyes of the girl who is so good with horses. Daily, Texas, has a way of offering hope, healing, and a little romance just when folks need it most.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Word Gets Around, go HERE
What people are saying:
“Lisa Wingate writes engaging stories that strike the heart. God has gifted her with a marvelous talent and I, for one, am most grateful.”
—Debbie Macomber, New York Times #1 bestselling author
Sally Says: One of the most fun things about reading fiction is discovering new authors. This past summer I read A Month of Summer, mainly because it had a beautiful cover. (Yes, I’m a sucker for a good cover.)
But it was an incredibly well-written novel. In fact, I know I referred at least one editing client to it as an example of well-done character-driven novel with a strong plot. So when I saw Lisa Wingate’s name on the CFBA reading list, I didn’t even pay attention to what the book was about. I knew I’d read more books by her.
And I’ve enjoyed Word Gets Around. It’s very different from A Month of Summer, which I didn’t expect. The one thing that’s the same is Wingate’s ability to create realistic, intriguing characters. The people in Word Gets Around are just plain fun — Aunt Netta, Imogene, and Lucy, Nate and his take on Hollywood people (of which he is one), and of course the heroine, Lauren Lee.
The premise of the book is the often-done small-town girl forced back to her roots, but it’s done in a fresh, interesting way that fits the characters and the story. I had trouble in the beginning with the way she spelled out some of the Texans’s hard core accents, but I got used to it, and it gave a unique voice to the characters that I wouldn’t have been able to hear, otherwise. I recommend Word Gets Around and Lisa Wingate for whenever you’re looking for that fun, relaxing read.