Home Another Way by Christa Parrish - SPECIAL GIVE AWAY!

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Home Another Way
Bethany House (October 1, 2008)
by
Christa Parrish


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Christa Parrish graduated high school at 16, with every intention of becoming a surgeon. After college, however, her love of all things creative led her in another direction, and she worked in both theatre and journalism.

A winner of Associated Press awards for her reporting, Christa gave up her career after the birth of her son, Jacob. She continued to write from home, doing pro bono work for the New York Family Policy Council, where her articles appeared in Focus on the Family’s Citizen magazine. She was also a finalist in World magazine’s WORLDview short story contest, sponsored by WestBow press. She now teaches literature and writing to high school students, is a homeschool mom, and lives with her family in upstate New York, where she is at work on her second novel.



ABOUT THE BOOK

After her mother’s death and her father’s abandonment, tiny infant Sarah Graham was left to be raised by her emotionally distant grandmother. As a child she turned to music for solace and even gained entrance to Juilliard. But her potentially brilliant music career ended with an unplanned pregnancy and the stillborn birth of her child.

In an attempt to escape the past, Sarah, now twenty-seven, is living life hard and fast–and she is flat broke. When her estranged father dies, she travels to the tiny mountain hamlet of Jonah, New York to claim her inheritance. Once there, she learns her father’s will stipulates a six-month stay before she can recieve the money. Fueled by hate and desperation, Sarah settles in for the bitter mountain winter, and as the weeks pass, she finds her life intertwining with the lives of the simple, gracious townsfolk. Can these strangers teach Sarah how to forgive and find peace?

A story of grace, of God’s never-ceasing love and the sometimes flawed, faithful people He uses to bring His purpose to pass.

If you would like to see a video book trailer of Home Another Way, go HERE.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Home Another Way, go HERE

MY REVIEW:

“Sometimes not enough has to be enough.” (p. 190)

Sarah Graham is looking for answers that she doesn’t realize she is seeking. She arrives in Jonah, New York an angry, bitter, vengeful soul and finds out her estranged father has left instructions that she must remain in the small, mountain town for six months if she is to inherit all that he has left for her. The answers she is seeking come to her through an eclectic group of mountain folk whose lives have been as broken and shattered as Sarah’s at different points in time. Through their mercy and loving grace, Sarah learns that “Sometimes not enough has to be enough,” and it is with this truth that healing can begin.

Christa Parrish has written a debut novel that is almost painfully beautiful. Her prose is poetic with vivid imagery in some places and abrupt and poignant in others. Her characters are real and rich with humanity and sorrow of life experience. Sarah Graham’s character takes you into the mind of a hard-hearted, bitter woman who is determined to prove to the world that she needs no one and that she is perfectly satisfied with herself alone. What she never imagined is that this eclectic group of mountain folk posses something far more satisfying that anything Sarah has ever encountered. Real love. Love that can only be birthed from a God-given faith.

Sarah’s six-months among the people of Jonah, New York has a realistic and satisfying ending. While everything isn’t neatly tied off into answers, the characters have matured and grown into people even more real and more whole than at the beginning of the story. Lord willing, we will see these dear folk in Christa’s writing again someday. This is a phenomenal first novel. A story to be savored and re-visited. This is most excellent! Purchase your copy today!

I'm excited to tell you that Christa Parrish has offered to send an autographed copy to one lucky reader! Please leave a comment here with your contact information to be entered to win! Thanks Christa!!