Linda S. Clare's The Fence My Father Built ~ Reviewed

The Fence My Father Built
By Linda S. Clare
Published By: Abingdon Press
ISBN# 9781426700736
294 Pages

Back Cover:

When legally separated Muri Pond, a librarian, hauls her kids, teenager Nova and eleven year-old Truman, out to the tiny town of Murkee, Oregon, where her father, Joe Pond lived and died, she's confronted by a neighbor's harassment over water rights and Joe's legacy: a fence made from old oven doors.

The fence and accompanying house trailer horrify rebellious Nova, who runs away to the drug-infested streets of Seattle. Muri searches for her daughter and for something to believe in, all the while trying to save her inheritance from the conniving neighbor who calls her dad Chief Joseph. Along with Joe's sister, Aunt Lutie, and the Red Rock Tabernacle Ladies, Muri must rediscover the faith her alcoholic dad never abandoned in order to reclaim her own spiritual path.


REVIEW:

Linda Clare pens a heart warming and sensitive story about a woman, Muri Pond, whose whole world has been turned upside down with her pending divorce. An Aunt she hardly knows seeks her out for help; help in keeping the property that belonged to her father—the father she never remembered meeting. She had hopes of meeting him someday but learns from her Aunt, her father is dead.

Muri brings her two teenage children to stay with her Aunt while she tries to understand the lawsuit against her father’s property for water rights. When they get to the Central Oregon high desert property; they soon discover that her Aunt lives in a trailer in the middle of nowhere, Muri wonders if she's done the right thing. There's no Super Wal-Mart, or any other modern convenience near by. Reality hits. What has she done?

Life, as Muri and her children have known it, is over. Fighting this legal battle might take longer than Muri thinks. Her oldest child, Nova, gives her mother a really bad time (the way only teenagers can) about taking them away from her friends and the world they left behind. Nova couldn't get out of this desert trap fast enough.

Muri discovers things about herself, her father and the beautiful nature around her that are surprising. In the author notes Linda reveals she’s had a similar journey in life where she was seeking to learn about her father and her Native American roots. I really enjoyed how Linda told this story though the eyes of Muri with all her struggles, feelings and wonder. I received a review copy of this book and I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author.

Reviewed by: Nora St.Laurent
Finding Hope Through Fiction