It May Not Be Bug Tussle, But It's Home

My favorite contemporary fiction author is Sally John. She writes with compassion and understanding to the issues women face. I may have to change my mind about this. Deborah Raney has a series of books that take the reader to the Chicory Inn near Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In Another Way Home, Danae Brooks has been going through fertility treatments for nearly four years at great expense and disappointment when they do not work. Her husband, Dallas, is supportive, but tired too. He wants Danae to find something to get her attention off whether or not she's pregnant and when she's going to have her own baby. When there is an announcement at church about the local women's shelter needing new volunteers, Danae feels this is something she can put her attention to. Now Dallas is a bit apprehensive about Danae's working at the center, who knows what kind of crazies will show up there? God has this all under control and every step is ordained by Him.

Deborah has worked gratitude, faith, and providential provision into a novel that on the surface is filled with angst. One of the residents of the center has a little boy that she asks Danae to keep for the Thanksgiving weekend while she goes to visit her family. Only she knows she won't be coming back. This opens the door for Dallas and Danae to become parents, but it is a long row to hoe. Also the mother is pregnant with another child and because of her circumstances, she wants Dallas and Danae to take this child too.

Because this is a continuation of a series of books, the characters get more complex and more real. The settings are the same as the others in the books and the plot works so well. While each book centers on one of the children of Audrey and Grant, all of the children are present throughout the book, modeling the life of an extended family filled with love--especially on the Tuesday dinners. I wish I could do six or seven stars, but since five is all I can give, I will give it the full five stars, two thumbs up, and a family dinner once a week.

My thanks to Abingdon Press for allowing me to read and review this book.