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IF
I HAD YOU
Deborah Bedford
Warner Faith
ISBN: 0-446-69042-2
August 2004
Inspirational
This is the
story of a family including Nora Crabtree, her husband Ben, and
her daughter Tess. Nora and her daughter have experienced long
term tension and conflict and through much of the book, are
estranged. For a long period of time the teenage Tess is gone
from the home, her whereabouts unknown to her parents. Then she
abruptly returns, pregnant and unmarried. She chooses to give
birth rather than abort the pregnancy and Tansy is born.
Tess ultimately leaves Tansy with her parents. Tess' eventual
return to the family, the feelings this evokes, and the ways
that she and Nora must deal with their relationship creates the
rest of the story.
Other characters populate this book and include Nora's church
friends, her work friends at the fabric store and Creede
Franklin, the young man who was Tess' first love as an
adolescent. The father of Tess' baby also figures prominently in
the story and readers are given a glimpse of the dangerous life
of a gang.
This novel was emotionally painful to read. The author
beautifully captures the subtleties of unresolved parental
issues and the ways these can negatively influence a
parent/child relationship. The eroding gestalt of negative
feelings and criticisms are depicted with painful clarity. This
is a distressed family and no amount of faith or involvement in
the church is able to take this away.
I found myself becoming annoyed with Nora, her lack of awareness
of her impact on her daughter, and her difficulty confronting
her own issues. Yet, the book is about humans, with all their
imperfections and sins. With this in mind, the author has
beautifully crafted a thought-provoking story that in the end,
is all about abortion. This novel was well-written and developed
but I can't say that I actually enjoyed it. Readers should make
their own determination. |
Reviewed by
Jeri Neal
Rating:
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