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Restored Hope

Brenda Youngerman

Start date: December 1, 2010

Finish date: December 31, 2010

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Why we're reading this: December 2010 - Bloggers Unite Book Club Selection!
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Sep 27, 2010 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it liked it

Interview with the author and giveaway on my blog October 11th/12th 2010!

Restored Hope is Brenda Youngerman’s fifth novel, a story of tragedy, heartbreak, love and ultimately the restoration of hope.

The Miller family’s happiness is shattered by the death of their son on his tenth birthday. As his twin, Camilla is fractured creating a new identity as Samantha to cope with his loss. Youngerman charts the disintegration of Samantha’s family as the loss is compounded by guilt and grief and crushed b Interview with the author and giveaway on my blog October 11th/12th 2010!

Restored Hope is Brenda Youngerman’s fifth novel, a story of tragedy, heartbreak, love and ultimately the restoration of hope.

The Miller family’s happiness is shattered by the death of their son on his tenth birthday. As his twin, Camilla is fractured creating a new identity as Samantha to cope with his loss. Youngerman charts the disintegration of Samantha’s family as the loss is compounded by guilt and grief and crushed by further tragedy. Samantha barely manages to survive the remains of her family. Emotionally fragile, she struggles to find her place in the world, until she finds companionship in a stray dog, and love with Timothy Bleak.

Youngerman explores some confronting themes in her novel. As each shocking event unfolds, it can make for uncomfortable reading. Grief, mental collapse, suicide, domestic violence are all issues Samantha confronts at different stages in her life. At times these elements can be overwhelming but the author does a credible job of portraying the honesty of the experiences.

It’s not difficult to see Samantha as a sympathetic character though she will be hard for some to relate to for the sheer tragedy of her experience. There is a lot to admire in her eventual achievement of moving forward in her life, and as a reader, to want better things for her.

It’s a relief when she meets Tim who is sensitive to her difficulties with self esteem and trust. Tim’s openness is a good balance to Samantha’s closed nature and the blossoming of their relationship is sweet.

Tim’s background is almost ordinary and yet this family is not immune from hardship either. It becomes evident that Tim’s sister is struggling in her marriage which ultimately leads to a string of further tragedies that caught me unawares.

In her epilogue, Youngerman talks about restored hope however there is not really a traditional happy ending for any of the characters we meet. They are understandably scarred by their experiences, but the reader is left hoping for better things for the next generation.

Restored Hope is a thought provoking and emotional novel, Youngerman describes her work as Fiction with A Purpose, her intention is to draw attention to the reality of the tragedies of everyday people and give them a voice. ...more

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Sep 18, 2010 Kathy rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2010

There is currently a giveaway for this book running on my blog:
http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot....

While reading Brenda Youngerman's novel I found myself wondering how I would respond if faced with similar tragedies. Would I shatter and break as some individuals in this book did or would I be able to put the tragedies behind me and start again? I found myself drawn into this story and rooting for Samantha to find peace and love in her life.
For the rest of my review:
http://iamareadernotawrite ...more

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Aug 10, 2010 Brenda Youngerman rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

Shelves: fiction-with-a-purpose

Sep 08, 2010 Nurture Your BOOKS™ - Bobbie Crawford marked it as unread

Shelves: like-to-promote-on-nurture

Jan 01, 2011 Bobbie Crawford rated it it was amazing

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