Title: A Sweethaven
Homecoming
Author: Courtney
Walsh
Pages: 324
Year: 2012
Publisher: Guideposts
Note: I received a
complimentary copy for an honest review of this book. The opinions shared in this review are solely
my responsibility. Other reviews can be
read at http://seekingwithallyurheart.blogspot.com/
. Also follow me on Twitter
@lcjohnson1988
What a
great book! Courtney Walsh has done a
fantastic job of telling the story of five friends and the summer they spend in
the small town of Sweethaven. The author
develops these characters so that the reader feels right along with the
characters when something happens.
Meghan
is a country music star, recovering alcoholic, divorced mother. She heads home to Sweethaven when she thinks
her ex-husband is trying to gain full custody of their children. However, Meghan still has much guilt and
shame for events from her past that still haunt her and play a part in how she
acts and reacts in various situations. Sometimes
she feels the best way to protect her kids is to stay away from them because she
is such a bad mother in her eyes. Her
best friend hasn’t spoken to her in six years, and won’t forgive Meghan for the
past. Can anyone love her just as she
is?
Campbell
is a young woman who comes to Sweethaven filled with dreams of the perfect
summer of spending time with her boyfriend, Luke, who is also Meghan’s brother,
scrapbooking with her mother’s friends, and sunning at the beach. However, when she arrives in Sweethaven, she
finds things don’t turn out the way she had them planned. Her mother has died, and she only knows her
father by name. She hopes to spend time
with him in Sweethaven. Will she be able
to build a relationship with her grandfather, who disowned his daughter when
she became pregnant with Campbell out of wedlock? Why is Luke so preoccupied and not spending
any time with her? Does she have a
future in Sweethaven?
Adele
is Meghan’s mother and had been good friends with Campbell’s mother. She and her daughter have a very strained
relationship. Adele wants to repair that
relationship, but seems to always say just the wrong thing to push her daughter
further away. She does begin to build a
close relationship with Meghan’s two children, and begins to repair her
relationship with Meghan’s ex-husband, who has the kids full-time. She finally asks God to heal their
relationship as she has been unable to do it on her own.
Lila is
also a friend of all these ladies. She
has a cruel mother and philandering father.
She finds out devastating news about something her husband has done in
the distant past. She separates from him
and files for divorce. Her husband
doesn’t want a divorce and follows her back to Sweethaven where Lila’s parents
of a summer house. Lila doesn’t think
she will ever be able to trust him again and that he doesn’t deserve to be
married to her. Her husband isn’t giving
up on their marriage without a fight.
Can they reconcile?
Jane is
married to a pastor. She was best
friends with Meghan, but now that relationship is destroyed because of the
past. Can they ever be friends
again? Jane begins a Bible study with
scrapbooking/journaling/prayer books as part of healing or working through
emotions. Will her students see through
her façade of having it all together?
Can she ever forgive Meghan or will she hang on to her bitterness?
Each of
these characters, as well as the supporting cast, deal with the issues of
guilt, shame, regret, bitterness, mercy, love, forgiveness, and other emotions. Kudos to Courtney Walsh for writing a very
entertaining novel for readers to enjoy.
Get this book to see how all these relationships work out and discover
what it means to come home.
My rating is 4.5 stars.
