Roxanne Henke's With Love, Libby ~ Reviewed

With Love, Libby
By Roxanne Henke
Published by Harvest House Publishers
ISBN 0-7369-1197-9

All her life, Libby Marsden had wanted to be a writer. But when her novel is finally completed—and rejected by publisher after publisher—Libby must reexamine her life and ask why God has given her the desire to write and not blessed her efforts.

Vicky Johnson has big dreams for her daughter, Angie, as she graduates from high school. But Angie has dreams of her own—and they do not match those of her mother.

Beautiful … powerful … painful … With Love, Libby is all of these and more. It's a story of dreams, of friendship, of loss, and ultimately of restoration and fulfillment. In With Love, Libby, Henke explores the depth of friendship between women. She lays bare the power of dreams between mothers and daughters. A masterful word weaver, she threads the potent force of faith and God's grace throughout the story in a most natural way.

In an unpredictable and unique plot approach, Libby is writing a book titled After Anne, which Henke authored as the first novel in this 5-book series. At first, I was slightly confused whether the letters from readers about After Anne and the other books were real or fictional. But that twist added realism to the story. Henke's memorable characters live in the small town of Brewster, North Dakota, where everyone knows everybody—and their business.

With Love, Libby is the last of the Coming Home to Brewster series. It's the first one I've read of the series but not the last. I just ordered the other 4 books, and if they are anything like this one, all five will remain on my bookshelf to be read again and again.

The five books in the Coming Home to Brewster series are: After Anne; Finding Ruth; Becoming Olivia; Always Jan; and With Love, Libby.

Reviewed by Ane Mulligan
www.anemulligan.com