Book Review - Shades of Morning

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Summary:


Marnie Wittier has life just where she wants it. Quiet. Peaceful. No drama. A long way away from her past. In the privacy of her home, she fills a box with slips of paper, scribbled with her regrets, sins, and sorrows. But that’s nobody else’s business. Her bookstore/coffee shop patrons, her employees, her friends from church—they all think she’s the very model of compassion and kindness.

Then Marnie’s past creeps into her present when her estranged sister dies and makes Marnie guardian of her fifteen-year-old son—a boy Marnie never knew existed. And when Emmit arrives, she discovers he has Down syndrome—and that she’s woefully unprepared to care for him. What’s worse, she has to deal with Taylor Cole, her sister’s attorney, a man Marnie once loved—and abandoned. As Emmit (and Taylor) work their way into her heart, Marnie begins to heal. But when pieces of her dismal past surface again, she must at last face the scripts of paper in her box, all the regrets and sorrows. Can she do it? Or will she run again?

Author Bio:

Marlo Schalesky is the author of several books, including Beyond the Night and Empty Womb, Aching Heart. A graduate of Stanford University , Marlo also has a masters of theology with an emphasis in biblical studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. Married over twenty years, she lives with her husband, Bryan, and their five children in California .

My Thoughts:

What an unbelievably great book!!  Heart-wrenching - to say the least!!  I was hesitant that this book was going to be very good.  Guess that proves you don't judge a book by its cover.  This is such a beautiful story about a young woman out on her own finding her way after having many hurts in her life.  As the story unfolds you will find yourself wanting to call Marnie up and tell her what she should do.  For Marnie, a quiet life in a peaceful neighborhood is the perfect life for her.  Then her world turns upside down as she finds out her sister has passed away and has left her (Marnie) the guardian of her teenage down syndrome child.  What a huge step for this single woman!  The sweetness of this child will utterly bring you to tears.  Watching the daily struggles in this life is so overwhelming!  Along with this, she is reconnected with her past love that she abandoned.  She wants desperately to get away from him and move on but this story keeps her hanging on in one way or the other. 

I highly recommend anyone to read this book!!  It is definitely a keeper!!