Raising Rain by Debbie Fuller Thomas - REVIEWED

“Sometimes people fight against the very thing they want or need the most.” (p.316)

Raising Rain chronicles the story of five women. Four of these women; Jude, Toni, Bebe and Mare share forty years of history and all of them share a great love for Jude’s daughter, Rain. At the point the reader enters the story, Jude is dying. It is Jude’s eminent passage from life that brings the women together again. Their reunion is bittersweet, because as truth comes to light they must all face the fact that wrong choices often hurt those we care for the most. Redemption and restitution is possible, but is it something that anyone is able to offer the other? Time is running out for them all.

Raising Rain was a painful book for me to read. While my college years took place in the late 80’s rather than the early 70’s, the decision to attend a women’s college brought me in contact with many of the same experiences these four faced when they first left home and had to make their own decisions. Becoming a woman of substance apparently requires more than I was willing to give. I thank God alone that I was spared a lot of the heartache my dorm-mates suffered through. Although opportunity knocked, I left the door shut after peeking around the corner.

Yet there were young women that came to me and shared their heartache, and the sorrow and regret was palpable. I don’t know what it would be like to face that again after more than thirty years. Raising Rain gave me a good idea of what it would be like. Jude’s character made me shudder – time and again – because I’ve known women just like her. To quote Rain on page 285, “You fought for me to be able to make my own choices, and then you took it away and dictated what was best for me.” This is never a good thing, and the consequences of such tyrannical love is far reaching indeed.

I thank GOD that I have a Savior who has forgiven my wrong choices and redeemed my sins. The heartache of losing someone without that assurance and hope is the absolute saddest thing in the world to me. Debbie Thomas’ story is a raw picture of grace and the spiritual battle that rages between God’s gift of salvation and man’s determination to have his own way. It is a story you will never forget.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Debbie writes contemporary fiction from an historic Gold Rush town in Northern California. By day, she manages after school and day camp programs, and she burns the midnight oil to write what she loves. Her first book Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon, is a Christy finalist. Raising Rain, her second book became available September 2009.

Debbie has contributed to story collections such as Chicken Soup for the Bride's Soul, and Lord, I Was Happy Shallow, along with articles in Coping With Cancer magazine.

She has two teenagers and her husband is the executive pastor on Sonrise Church with 1,000 members. Debbie is a manager at Auburn Area Parks and Recreation.