Title: Inescapable
Author: Nancy Mehl
Pages: 322
Year: 2012
Publisher: Bethany
House
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
Lizzie
Engel is being watched. Who is the man
with the red hat? Why is he watching
her? Who sent him? What does he want with her? Lizzie has begun to receive threatening notes
and is very fearful for herself as well as her 6-year-old daughter,
Charity. Lizzie then learns she has been
accused of stealing money from her employer.
She is innocent, but has no proof.
Someone has set her up to look guilty.
She fears the authorities will take away her daughter. She has little money and only one
friend. Where can she go to find
safety? Her only choice is to return
home to Kingdom, Kansas.
Lizzie
grew up in a remote, strict, Mennonite town.
Her father was a very harsh disciplinarian and showed her no love. Her best friend, Noah, vowed to protect her
always when they were kids. Her mother
believed in being obedient to her husband and never stood up for herself or her
daughter. Lizzie searched for love as a
teenager with her boyfriend, Clay. She
was pressured to show her “love” and got pregnant the first time. Clay’s parents offered money to pay for an
abortion, but Lizzie refused. Clay and
his family left the community, and Lizzie never heard from Clay again. Lizzie had the baby, but was made to feel so
outcast, especially by her own father, that she left the community and God behind.
Lizzie
returns to Kingdom, but her father refuses to let her or her daughter stay at
the house. Her mother is very glad they
have come home, but won’t go against her husband’s wishes yet. Lizzie finds a place to live and a job with
the café owner, who is nothing but kind, generous, and loving to her and
Charity. Lizzie begins to see other
people from her past and begins to remember that not everything or everyone was
bad when she was growing up. She
remembers friends from the past and is reunited with some of them. She sees Noah for the first time in five
years and realizes after they talk that her feelings for him run deeper than
friendship. Does he feel the same? Would he consider marrying “damaged goods” as
Lizzie calls herself? As she reconnects
with the community, she rediscovers God, trusting in Him to lead.
While
in Kingdom, the man with the red hat is spotted. How could he have found her? Kingdom isn’t on a map and very few people
know how to get there. She also begins
receiving the notes again. Now, what
should she do? Should she run
again? Where else can she go?
The
themes of forgiveness, mercy, and love run throughout the story via the relationships
of the main character with her mother, her best friend, some of her old
friends, and her father. The book has
interesting details of how Mennonites live their daily lives. You’ll have to get a copy to see how
everything works out!
My rating is 3 stars.
