BOOK REVIEW - Good Hope Road

[homesteadmamma]

Good Hope Road is written by Lisa Wingate. This is the first time I've read a book by Wingate, but certainly not the last.

Twenty-one-year-old Jenilee Lane, whose dreams area as narrow as the sky is wide, is the last person to expect anything good to come out of the tornado that rips across the Missouri farmland surrounding her home. But some inner spark compels her to take action- to rescue her elderly neighbour, Eudora Gibson, from the cellar in which she's been trapped. To make her way to the nearby town of Poetry, where the townspeople have begun to gather in the only building left standing. To collect from this landscape fragments of life that have been cast about in the tornado's wake: letters, photographs-momentos that might mean something to people who have lost everything....

Eduora Gibson is the last person to expect courageous acts from Jenilee Lane. But the girl she's hardly noticed for years is now surprising her - stepping forward with a bravery that inspires Eduora to face her own bitterness over the past. Brought close by tradegy, Jenilee and Eudora will learn lessons about the resilience of the human spirit and the ties that make a community strong. They will travel to a place they once never would have imagined.

This book is about the aftermath of 19 tornadoes that take place in a small rural area. Its about two women who come together through this tradegy and how they learn what friendship and forgiveness is. Its about the abuse of a father, and how his children overcome to make a life of their own. Its a wonderful read.

Again, this book like the last one I read, is in the first-person point of view. Wingate has done a wonderful job of this, first in Jenilee speaking and then Eduora giving her thoughts.

When questioned as to why she writes in first-person, Wingate stated:

I like the closeness to the character that first-person point of view provides. I like the feeling that your hearing a real person, not a third-person narrator, tell a story. I often get so wrapped up in the characters and their stories that I forget they aren't real people living out their lives somewhere. First-person point of view doesn't work for every story, but for many of my stories it helps create the impression of a personal narrative being told to the reader (and actually, to the writer) in a very intimate one-one-one fashion

Wingate has also written Tending Roses and has her own website www.LisaWingate.com There is also a conversation guide in the back of the book with questions for discussion. A great book for anyone wanting to do a book club.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone to read.

[KKCondrey]

That does sound good. Glad you enjoyed it. I may have to look for it here.

[Katybird]

I recently read this book and agree that it was a great book. I got so caught up in it that I read it in one night. It made me gasp, smile and even almost shed a tear here and there. If you like fiction set in rural settings with genuine down to earth characters then this is a great read. Two thumbs up from here.

[autumnlynn]

Sounds great. I'm going to look for a copy.