Book Review: Heart Echoes

I'm here to talk about one of my favorite Christian fiction authors, Sally John, and her most recently published novel, Heart Echoes.  One aspect of Sally's writing that I really love is that she doesn't put out novel after novel of the all-too-predictable Christian romance plots that wrap up with a saccharin-sweet, too-good-to-be-true ending, but neither does she paint a bleak picture of "real" life.  Instead, I find that the appeal of Sally's writing is found in the way that she presents characters with depth and relatability; her plots are complex, intriguing, touching, and compelling; and above all, she gently, but surely points the reader to the true hope and healing that can be found in God's love for each and everyone of us.

Heart Echoes is set in both Los Angeles and the Oregon Coast.  Sally has done her research well, as she always does, and both settings are as believable as they are different.  The novel focuses on Teal Morgan-Adams, her daughter Maiya, and Teal's husband and Maiya's step-dad, River Adams.  The plot gets off to a quick start with the family experiencing an earthquake in L.A. and this brings about repercussions that are far greater than just the physical damage caused by the earthquake itself.  As chinks start to form in Teal's neatly put together life, she decides to head back to her hometown of Cedar Pointe, Oregon, for awhile, but consequently has to come face-to-face with her difficult childhood, decisions she made as a young adult, strained relationships with her immediate and extended family, and secrets that need to come to light.  If I say more, I will give away too much of the good stuff, so I'll stop there with the summarizing.

As I read this book and also walked out the experiences of my own life this spring, I felt that Sally's book was speaking to me on a much deeper level than just being a piece of fiction that would be "a good read".  The jacket of the novel talks about "life's unexpected detours" and I can say that this first half of my 2012 has been full of my fair share of unexpected and unplanned moments and experiences.  Much of my detours recently have centered around illness in our family - from a daughter who was finally diagnosed with permanent lung damage needing daily respiratory therapy and frequent antibiotic treatment, to a flood of common viruses one after another, and even a family bout with the chicken pox.  Most of us have small trials and challenges on a daily basis and then periods in our lives that are even more challenging than usual.  When looking back on those times, though, the hope is that we can learn  about ourselves, others, and God from our suffering and trials and see God's hand in those situations and the hope that He gives us.  This is what see as the central theme of Heart Echoes and the reason that it will speak to so many, each in a different way.