A Heartbeat Away by S. Dionne Moore - REVIEWED

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing A Heartbeat Away Abingdon Press (May 1, 2013) by S. Dionne Moore

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

S. Dionne Moore started writing in 2006. Her first book, Murder on the Ol’ Bunions, was contracted for publication by Barbour Publishing in 2008. In 2009 she moved on to writing historical romances as an outlet for her passion for history. In 2010 her second cozy mystery, Polly Dent Loses Grip, was a 2010 Carol Award finalist and she was also named a Barbour Publishing 2010 Favorite New Author. In 2011 her first historical romance, Promise of Tomorrow, was nominated a 2011 Carol Award finalist.

Born and raised in Manassas, Virginia, Moore moved to Greencastle, PA in 1993, then to Mercersburg in 2009. Moore enjoys life in the historically rich Cumberland Valley where traffic jams are a thing of the past and there are only two stoplights in the whole town.

For more information, visit her Website at www.sdionnemoore.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @sdionnemoore
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sdionnemoore
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/sdionnemoore

 ABOUT THE BOOK

When a band of runaway slaves brings Union-loyal Beth Bumgartner a wounded Confederate soldier named Joe, it is the catalyst that pushes her to defy her pacifist parents and become a nurse during the Battle of Antietam.

Her mother's mysterious goodbye gift is filled with quilt blocks that bring comfort to Beth during the hard days and lonely nights, but as she sews each block, she realizes there is a hidden message of faith within the pattern that encourages and sustains her. Reunited with Joe, Beth learns his secret and puts the quilt's message to its greatest test—but can betrayal be forgiven?



My Thoughts:

“That’s why she gave you the quilt.  So you could see beyond the hard times.”  (p 95)

Times couldn’t be any harder for Beth Bumgartner! Truly, her circumstances were very brutal. Beth was staying with her grandmother's home, nursing wounded soldiers, and the Civil War came to their doorstep and swept through their front door.  Her world became filled with the moans and cries of agony of wounded soldiers.  Beth was wounded inside long before the war demolished the physical world she lived in.  She must heal while she tends the wounded and dying. Before any healing can take place, she must seek the heart -healing only God can provide – yet she has pushed Him away. God doesn’t hear or answer her prayers.

The soldier that occupies most of her time and effort – initially – is Joe. He is seeking the brother he went into the war to protect. Wounded and dying himself, it seems he will never discover the answers he is desperate to find.  He never expected to be part of someone else’s healing

.

Wow! Talk about being on the front lines of the Civil War!  Dionne Moore takes you there in her novel A Heartbeat Away!! The noise, the terror, the filth every detail is brought to vivid life.  She also brings to life a set of characters that  bear some inner wounds of their own – the separation from family, the unknown whereabouts or conditions of their loved ones.  Moore has created some very strong and resilient characters who bear up in pretty amazing ways.

Throughout the story, Beth pieces together a quilt that her mother sent to her while she was nursing soldiers in her grandmother’s home.  There is a message tenderly woven into each stitch of that quilt, and Moore weaves her story together with the masterful touch of an accomplished seamstress. It is a purposeful and beautiful story and displays the mercy and grace of God in the most nightmarish circumstances imaginable.

Truly, we can and must trust God no matter the battle that wages around us. It’s not easy.  It’s not pain free. It is purposeful and beautiful, just like Beth’s quilt. Don’t miss this story!  It will challenge and change your heart!

If you would like to read the first chapter of A Heartbeat Away, go HERE.

Watch the video:
AHeartbeatAway - Medium from S. Dionne Moore on Vimeo.