Book Review | Every Time You Go Away by Beth Harbison

Beth Harbison Every time you go away cover

Book Description:

In New York Times bestselling author Beth Harbison’s most emotional novel ever, a fractured family must come together at a beach house haunted by the past.

Willa has never fully recovered from the sudden death of her husband, Ben. She became an absent mother to her young son, Jamie, unable to comfort him while reeling from her own grief.

Now, years after Ben’s death, Willa finally decides to return to the beach house where he passed. It’s time to move on and put the Ocean City, Maryland house on the market.

When Willa arrives, the house is in worse shape than she could have imagined, and the memories of her time with Ben are overwhelming. They met at this house and she sees him around every corner. Literally. Ben’s ghost keeps reappearing, trying to start conversations with Willa. And she can’t help talking back.

To protect her sanity, Willa enlists Jamie, her best friend Kristin, and Kristin’s daughter Kelsey to join her for one last summer at the beach. As they explore their old haunts, buried feelings come to the surface, Jamie and Kelsey rekindle their childhood friendship, and Willa searches for the chance to finally say goodbye to her husband and to reconnect with her son.

Every Time You Go Away is a heartfelt, emotional story about healing a tragic loss, letting go, and coming together as a family.

This book was beautiful. It definitely focused on grief in a way we’ve not seen in other books. The story of Willa and Jamie takes a new turn as the two main characters go back to their summer home, three years after the death of their husband/father, to restore the place and sell it. Willa begins to heal as she purges the house of items that were Ben’s and gives it a new makeover with fresh paint and furniture. In the course of revisiting the location where Ben breathed his last, Willa begins to see him, after he’s passed. She and he begin to have conversations and then late night rendezvous. And they’re not tacky or inappropriate, they are sweet and realistic conversations that a widow might have, if she had the opportunity to reach out to her beloved, very much missed husband.

Jamie, Willa’s son, at the beginning of the book, has a dreadful girlfriend who is desperately in need of being let go. It is just too much -it breaks my heart to read about a young woman who is so unstable and needy. Mothers and fathers, spend time with your daughters, so they won’t turn into this hideous Roxy! Her texts, phone calls and incessant pleas for Jamie were unnerving, but sadly realistic. Eventually, Jamie stands up to her and goes to visit his mother, which is so necessary to them both moving through grief.

Throughout the summer journey of revisiting and remembering, mother and son become closer, and healing begins, and it’s with the help of a wonderful friend, Kristin and her daughter, Kelsey. And the direction that the kids take as a result of “fixing up the place” just opens doors for more romance.

I loved the pace of the book, the realistic parts that made sense regarding Willa wanting to reconnect and have some peace on moving on, and I really enjoyed the moments where the author recounted Willa’s memories for us. Working through the death of a loved one is never easy. And I felt her descriptions and imagery was believable. It was a sad story that dealt much with healing, loss and grief.

Caution: If you have an event you are working through, this may trigger some feelings and heartache, but it was very well written and sweet.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html): “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review | Forgiving our Fathers and Mothers by Leslie Leyland Fields and Dr. Jill Hubbard

As a woman who is new to women’s ministry and just recently began teaching a class on the biblical view of forgiveness using Dr. David Stoop’s book, “Forgiving the Unforgivable”, it made perfect sense to review a book on this topic as well to incorporate into my lesson plans. The payoff was more than I realized initially. The more I read, the more I realized that not only did I need to share this material, but I needed to pray about applying it in my own life.

The book is written by two women, Leslie Fields, a wife and mother of six who struggled with her relationship with her biological father, and Dr. Jill Hubbard, who is a clinical psychologist and co-host of the New Life Live radio program. Leslie shares bold testimony of her encounters and forgiveness stages with her father. As if reading her deeply wounded personal account isn’t enough evidence of the need to forgive, she shares snippets of other peoples’ family issues and how they were or were not resolved. Getting a glimpse into how other people view wounds and what they do with them, is proof of a universal need to give grace and forgiveness, which can be achieved humanly, however is not complete without Jesus. Dr. Hubbard’s additional insights lead you into ten questions at the end of each chapter, to deepen your understanding of what the chapter material was and Scripture readings for application.

As I read and processed the questions, stories, testimonies, and outcomes, I realized this book should be in the pew rack along with our hymnals. Though Scripture talks about forgiveness, and our churches address this area, many of us do not apply the mandate to our parents. Leslie realizes this and explains in chapter eight that “…forgiveness requires remembrance. We cannot confess and name what was done without memory. Neither can we extinguish what happened in the past by simply pretending or denying it away.” (page 162). The need to face the past, our perception of it, and grieve the memory is essential.

The biblical mandate from Jesus is that forgiveness is immediate. We are not giving permission to hurt, but releasing the offender “from our hook and placing them on God’s hook.” God will work out the details. The justice for our injustice is His to claim. I’ve learned over time that the step of obedience in this area, leads to peace from Jesus that calms the soul beyond comprehension. Leslie and Jill confirm this truth, and invite you to read their stories.

Are you ready to take the next step in seeing the grace of God work in your life? Pick up a copy of this book, grab a highlighter and your Bible and spend some time alone with God. Your time will be greatly rewarded and you will not be disappointed.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers (http://booklookbloggers.com) book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html): “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review | A Very Fine House by Barbara Cofer Stoefen

A Mother's Story of Love, Faith and Crystal Meth — A Mother’s Story of Love, Faith and Crystal Meth

From the moment you open the book, you embark on a journey of emotion involving a picture perfect family. Barbara, the author, within six pages, is immediately thrown into a world she’s never known with someone she never thought her daughter could become. When Annie begins a life of meth use, it sets off a chain of events that leave readers clinging to hope, and yet screaming at the pages for Annie to turn back to what she knows is real.

In Barbara’s real life account of living with a meth addict, she shares her emotional and yet firm, faithful foundation in God as a means through which she learns about, accepts and helps her daughter. When I was reading her story, I felt as if I were alongside Barbara in her car during those late night searches on the street for her daughter. I felt as if I was in her garage with her when she lit a cigarette and prayed for God to help her help her daughter. I felt as if I was in the courtrooms with her as she saw her daughter shackled and distant. And I felt as if I were a friend sharing a cup of coffee when she would share moment-changing revelations during the dark years.

Each moment recorded in this book is a moment of struggle and victory, and the entire journey, worth retelling over and over. For any parent who has walked through the dark room of addiction, who seeks to understand and needs encouragement, this story of healing and hope is necessary. There are also resources and contacts in the back of the book for additional information.