Good Hope Road...Review

About the book:
Twenty-year-old Jenilee Lane whose dreams are as narrow as the sky is wide, is the last person to expect anything good to come out of the tornado that rips across the Missouri farmland surrounding her home. But some inner spark compels her to rescue her elderly neighbor, Eudora Gibson, from the cellar in which she's been trapped. To make her way to the nearby town of Poetry, where the townspeople have begun to gather. To collect from the landscape letters, photographs, and mementos that might mean something to people who have lost everything. Brought close by tragedy, Jenilee and Eudora will learn lessons about the resilience of the human spirit and the ties that make a community strong. They will travel to a place they never would have imagined.

I don't know what it is about Lisa Wingate. Her novels are easy to read, similar to each other, and fairly predictable. They are also incredibly compelling. Good Hope Road is the the second book after Tending Roses. It's a stand alone novel, although some of the characters from Tending Roses briefly appear, and the new characters will appear in The Language of the Sycamores.

When a tornado destroys the town of Poetry, Missouri, Jenilee finds herself and her purpose. Finding oneself and place in life is a standard theme for Wingate books. After the tornado, Jenilee rescues a bitter, elderly woman and the two form an unlikely bond of friendship, through which both are able to forgive those whom they have held grudges against. In the aftermath of the storm, Jenilee begins gathering mementos and pictures and items that have been blown away by the tornado. This small act draws the town together as they begin to recover from the tragedy. Jenilee is reunited with her estranged brother and the story, like all Wingate stories, wraps up neatly and predictably.

It's an easy, well-written read. And, like the other Wingate novels I found myself unable to put the book down. The laundry waited and the dishes waited until I finished it. The voices are likeable, compelling and ring true.

Thanks to my local library for having a copy I could borrow.  You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 6/08

* * *
3/5 Stars


Comments