Stones for Bread by Christa Parrish - REVIEWED!

About the Book: (from Thomas Nelson)

What do you do when the gift you thought was bread turns out to be stones?

Liesl McNamara’s Wild Rise is not only a popular bakehouse and café in Vermont, it’s an extension of herself. Liesl is an artisan bread maker, like her mother and grandmother before her. Even though she lost her mother to suicide when she was eleven, she keeps this maternal bond alive as she bakes.

Liesl prides herself on living an uncomplicated, unattached life. But that changes when Seamus walks through the door of Wild Rise, lugging the large bags of whole wheat flour from the local food co-op. He and his daughter Cecelia have recently moved to the country seeking simplicity. Despite her best effort, Liesl becomes attracted to this teddy bear of a man who laughs easily and eats strange sandwich concoctions—on her bread, much to her dismay.

Her simple life is further complicated when a popular cooking show features her bakery. The publicity increases her business and brings several offers from larger businesses, all of which she turns down. But it also brings a completely unexpected phone call, one from a woman claiming to be her half-sister.

Liesl’s sense of identity dissolves as everything about her relationship with her mother—and the bread that held them together—comes into question. Has she been given stones rather than bread? And how can she ever take these crumbs and make them whole again?

My Thoughts:

“You can love a someone who is gone and a someone who is here, both together in time,” Tee says           (p. 308)

This statement is PACKED with significance!!!  Truly, it sums up much, if not all, of the essence of this very fine story.  Stones for Bread was a story that took me places that were uncomfortable in their familiarity.  It made me consider my own heart and my response to the people that I love most in this world.  It is a story that made me consider the consequences of my actions and reactions to situations over which I have no control but that affect my life in a profound way.

Yes, this is a story about Liesl McMamara (a baker), her life story past and present, the people with whom she shares life, what she considers to be important and how that changes significantly when she realizes how much she needs to receive the love offered to her by her Heavenly Father.  Her life is also impacted by the introduction of Seamus and his precious daughter Cecelia .  But it is still SO MUCH MORE!!

This is a story that took me on an unexpected journey to the heart of truth, and I thank God for introducing this into my heart for such a time as this!! 

Oh, and as an added bonus, the novel contains 11 Artisan Bread recipes!!

Buy your copy HERE today!!

About the Author:

Christa Parrish is the award-winning author of three novels, including the 2009 ECPA Fiction Book of the Year Watch Over Me. When she's not writing, she's a homeschool mother of three wonderful children. Married to author and pastor Chris Coppernoll, Christa serves with him as co-leader of their church's youth ministry as well as serving as a facilitator for a divorce recovery ministry. She is now also slightly obsessed with the art of baking bread.