LeAnne Hardy, author and editor
  • Home
  • BIO
  • My Books
    • Children's and Young Adult
    • Historical Fiction
    • Non-fiction
  • Blog
  • Editorial Services

My ​Times and Places
​


​​

Heart-of-the-matter Fiction

3/1/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
Sharon Souza's Unraveled starts slowly (way too much background in chapter one and a bit too much general niceness in the early chapters), but wow! when it gets going!

Sharon describes her writing as “heart-of-the-matter fiction with a good dose of humor.” The humor in this case comes from the quirky voice of Aria Winters granddaughter of former-hippies-turned-Jesus-people krystal and blue karma. Ree, as she is called, grew up on the nut farm (walnuts, almonds, and pistachios, that is), and runs off to Moldova (check your map of Eastern Europe) to be a missionary. 

I say “runs” because in fact, she is running from a guilty secret in her past. In Moldova she comes face to face with an imperfect world when a little girl in her English class is taken by child traffickers. Like me, Ree grew up in a Christian home surrounded by people who loved her. Like me, she is broken by what she sees.  That’s where the heart-of-the-matter part comes in, and Sharon Souza hit me straight between the eyes.

A few weeks ago, I reviewed Jeanette Windle’s Congo Dawn. It deals with the “problem of pain” in the context of a thriller. Unraveled delves much more into the complex emotions of facing the reality of something you can’t fix. Or maybe it’s just that I identified more with Ree’s emotions more than I did Robin Duncan's since I have never been chased through the jungle by mercenaries or shot at by people I trusted.

Sitting on an airplane, struggling to hold back tears as I turned the pages, I had to ask myself why Unraveled was affecting me so deeply. Yes, the issue of child sex trade is horrific, but I’ve read books about that before. I eventually realized that I was pulling so hard for Ree because I have hurled the same angry arguments at God. I even made a list once of all the things I was mad at God about—everything from my little brother’s premature death to leaving Robert Mugabe in power to destroy the beautiful country of Zimbabwe. (He’s still there.) That was after I stopped apologizing to God and making excuses for my feelings—exactly like Ree does in Unraveled.  Like Ree, I came very close to leaving the mission field, not because I didn’t believe in God, but because I did—and was mad at him for his seeming heartlessness! As Ree put it, I had "no intention of turning my face to the light [like the sunflowers of Moldova], only to get burnt." (p. 196)

Picture
I reserve five stars in my reviews for books I consider worth re-reading. When Sharon sent me a free copy of this book in exchange my honest opinion, I told her I was going to donate it to my church library as I usually do review books. I’m having second thoughts. I may have to buy a separate copy for the church library. Definitely five stars.

A version of this review appeared on International Christian Fiction Writers yesterday along with an interview with Sharon and a chance to win a copy of the book by commenting. Believe me, you really do want this book, so come on over to ICFW to read more about the writing of Unraveled and leave your comment. (Comments are always welcome here, too, but I'm not giving away a free book this week. I want to keep mine. ;-)

1 Comment
LeAnne
1/8/2015 06:08:52 am

This post was moved from another site. All comments were lost.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    LeAnne Hardy has lived in six countries on four continents. Her books come out of her cross-cultural experiences and her passion to use story to convey spiritual truths in a form that will permeate lives.

    RSS Feed

    Add http://www.leannehardy.net/1/feed to your RSS feed.
    To receive an e-mail when I post a new blog, please subscribe.
    Subscribe to Blog

    Categories

    All
    Africa
    Author Interviews
    Current Events
    Devotional Thoughts
    Guest Blog
    Holidays Christmas
    Holidays Easter
    Holidays-Easter
    Holidays Other
    Holidays-Thanksgiving
    Missions And Missionaries
    Music
    My Books
    My Life And Family
    My Travels
    Non Fiction
    Orphans And Vulnerable Children
    Photos
    Publishers And Publishing
    Reading And Sharing Books
    Reviews
    Skating
    Theological Education
    Tributes
    Writing

    Archives

    June 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    March 2000

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • BIO
  • My Books
    • Children's and Young Adult
    • Historical Fiction
    • Non-fiction
  • Blog
  • Editorial Services