Christian Book Review: Cruel Harvest: A Memoir by Fran Grubb

Cruel Harvest: A Memoir by Fran Elizabeth Grubb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

From the book:
"Get out here, now, or I'm gonna kill you!" he hollered.


Little girls are hardwired to hold their daddies in high esteem, so it comes as a shock the first time a daughter feels the back of her daddy's hand across her face . . . or watches him punch and kick her mother to within an inch of her life.

How could this be? Her older sisters teach her how to survive, even when he comes for her in the night.

A girl learns to become invisible, to look the other way, to say nothing when a curious stranger asks if she's okay. To lie. To expect nothing, not even from relatives.

To cry without tears.

To pray silently.

When she is fourteen, and weary, a girl begins to wish she were dead. Cruel Harvest is the compelling story of how she lived instead.

My review:
It was very hard for me to read this heart-wrenching story. The trust between a little girl and her Daddy is like no other relationship. There is an inherent trust and when it is broken, it's like the world ended! For Fran Grubb, it didn't take long to learn that to love her Daddy was to experience hurt, pain and embarrassment ...often.

From the time she was a little girl, all Fran knew was to hide from her father when he was mad or drunk... which was often. Her mother tried to help them enjoy life and let them know there was still joy in this world but it became more and more difficult. Her sisters tried to protect her but there was only so much they could do. Fran and her sisters and brother endured the harsh treatment of their father, not being able to go to school, having to work cotton fields, apple orchards, constantly moving, for all of their young lives, until one by one they escaped. One by one.

For a life story, Cruel Harvest reminds us how we need to look after our neighbors. So many people had contact with these children but somehow they never received the help they need. Fran Grubbs was "lucky" but there are so many children who are not. She chose to use her experience to help others and now goes around the country singing, speaking and raising money for her charity, Feed the Hungry Children.

This book is certainly not an easy read, but it is well written and flows nicely.

From a Christian perspective, it's a wonderful example of God's redeeming love and the freedom received from forgiving others. God bless Fran Grub and her husband Wayne for sharing this story and choosing to bless others thus breaking the chain of abuse. For more info about Fran Grubbs you can go to her website www.frangrubb.com

You can purchase your copy of Cruel Harvest: A Memoir on Amazon.com.
 
Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this book from the Booksneeze blogging program, for the purpose of review.  I am an Amazon affiliate.  Any Amazon links I provide will generate a small stipend.

Love and blessings,
Margaret
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Book Review: Need You Now by Beth Wiseman #christianbook #bookreview

Need You Now by Beth Wiseman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What would you do if you felt your child was in danger?

After their son Chad made some poor choices, Brad and Darlene Henderson made the the tough decision to move their family from Houston to the small town of Round Top, Texas. Chad and his sisters, Ansley and Grace, each had their own difficulties with the move, especially Grace. While the pace is much slower, the challenges are still there, just in a different form.

Need You Now takes you through the struggles of a family who faces challenges and finds the only way through is by trusting in God.

Beth Wiseman does an fantastic job of telling this story. The main characters of the Henderson family each have their own personality that you can relate to as a reader. The tone of the book and the language makes it easy to imagine the characters interacting. The supporting characters like Tristan, Myrna, David, Cara and especially Layla, are there for a reason, not just to fluff up the book. I love the realistic situations and the fact that the author was not afraid to address a current problem facing our young women. She did it tastefully and with great sensitivity. While the ending was incredibly sad, it only served to add more depth to the story.

Overall, I thought this Christian fiction was well written, with a well developed story line. The story makes you stop and think about what you would do if you were in those challenging situations. Would you trust in God or would you fall apart? There were a variety of responses in this book and I learned something from each. The overriding theme is that even when we don't trust ourselves, when we don't trust the people around us, we need to trust God.

This was my first Beth Wiseman book but I'm looking forward to reading more of her books.

Disclaimer: This book was provided to me through the Booksneeze program, for the purpose of review. I was not asked to nor required to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

Love and Blessings Always!
Margaret Rogers

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Book Review: Stand By Me by Neta Jackson

Stand By Me by Neta Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the book:
Kathryn Davies is a bright young woman form a prominent Phoenix family. But after making a leap of faith at a Christian music fest, dropping out of med school, and moving to inner city Chicago, her family all but disowns her.

When Kat discovers SouledOut Community Church, she longs to become a part of the multicultural church family. But her tendency to immediately say whatever she's thinking steps on the toes of nearly everyone she meets-especially Avis Douglass.

Avis has a strong faith, is the principal of one of Chicago's highest performing elementary schools, and is a founding member of SouledOut. But the country's economic downturn has thrown both her and her husband's jobs in question. And Avis hasn't heard from her youngest daughter in months-an estrangement that gnaws at her every day. Where is God in this?

Kat's flamboyant zeal for living a "radical" Christian life is a stark contrast to Avis's more reserved faith. But in God's timing, the two women discover they need each other in ways neither of them expected.

My review:
I wasn't sure what to think about this book at first. It takes place in Chicago at a diverse church called Souled Out Community Church. Avis is leading worship and four white college students are coming in. What is book is not is a sappy romance where everything is smooth sailing. What this book is, is a realistic picture of relationships including the one we as Christians have with Jesus. This is a truly Christian fiction book where the author was not afraid to proclaim the gospel or share bits of scripture throughout. I loved that she had the characters worshipping, praying, and ministering. A lot of times the author is so concerned about appealing to the crossover audiences, they forget to include Jesus.

As far as the characters, it was interesting to see the relationship between Avis and Kat develop. I feel like most of the story was about them even though the author did an excellent job of developing the other characters, especially Peter, Nick and Rochelle. Judging people is something that I think we all do. That type of attitude almost cost Avis her daughter and Kat a valuable friendship. It wasn't until they took a deeper look that they realized they needed each other.

What I took away the most is that having a relationship with Jesus is not just one thing. It's not just praying or worshiping or meeting for Bible Study. It's about living the life the Jesus lived. I think by the end of this book, each of the characters learned a lot more about their relationship with Jesus and some important ways to build on it. So did I.

I will look forward to future books in this series.

This book was provided to me by Thomas Nelson as part of the BookSneeze program. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

Love and Blessings!

Margaret

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