Elizabeth Musser's Words Unspoken ~ Reviewed

Words Unspoken
By Elizabeth Musser
Published by Bethany House
ISBN 978-0-7642-0373-2


Description:

Lissa Randall’s future was bright with academic promise until the tragic accident that took her mother’s life—and brought her own plans to a screeching halt. Eighteen months later, she still can’t get back behind the wheel. A casual recommendation to Ev McAllistair’s driving school sets in motion a cascade of events . . . until Lissa begins to wonder if maybe, just maybe, life isn’t as random as she’s thought.

Set against the breathtaking backdrop of Lookout Mountain, TN, Words Unspoken weaves together a vibrant cast of characters whose intertwining stories of courage, choice, heartbreak, and hope will hold you captive until the final page.


Review:

Elizabeth Musser is one of my favorite authors, having penned works like Swan House, The Dwelling Place and Searching for Eternity. But she's outdone even herself. Words Unspoken unfolds like a rose, one layer at a time, revealing the beauty within. Filled with diverse, memorable characters, you meet one then another, until the cast grows to where wonder how all these people are connected. Then, when the first relationship is revealed, it's an Ah-Ha moment. I couldn't put it down. I had to keep reading to discover the next connection. And each one was just right—never "convenient" or contrived. Filled with twists and brilliantly written, Words Unspoken is a must read. As one of those books whose characters linger in my mind, it receives a five-star recommendation from this reviewer.

Reviewed by: Ane Mulligan, editor Novel Journey

Bonus Review:


4/5 Stars

When as a reader you approach a novel by Elizabeth Musser, one often knows not to expect a light read. Her books are full, filled to the brim with emotion and relatable experiences. As with another novel "The Swan House", that I also loved, this story deals with the difficult intricacies of depression. When speaking of her novel, she states it well, this book is about depression, but is not depressing. That is something very hard to come by. The topics are heavy, but necessary and relatable. As a reader who personally does not like to read contemporary fiction because of the realistic pain of stories involved I highly enjoy the "recent historical inspirational fiction" here. The negative aspects of reality are found within the pages of the novel, but the spiritual message peaks through and becomes a much stronger presence than all of the negativity with each continuous page and chapter. One can finish the pages of this novel with hope and going forward. As was stated in a press release,

(While this hard-hitting approach can be interpreted by some as negative, Musser disagrees, saying "I write what I call 'entertainment with a soul'. I want the reader to find not only a good story but also real characters and themes that touch their hearts and force them to think, to laugh and cry and hope. To be entertained way down in their souls." )

As an avid reader and reviewer, I can tell you that Musser made her goals with this novel.



Reviewed by: Margaret Chind

The Long Highway Home by Elizabeth Musser ~ Reviewed

Nora St. Laurent shares her review of: The Long Highway Home 

Back Cover: Sometimes going home means leaving everything you have ever known.

When the doctor pronounces ‘incurable cancer’ and gives Bobbie Blake one year to live, she agrees to accompany her niece, Tracie, on a trip back to Austria, back to The Oasis, a ministry center for refugees that Bobbie helped start twenty years earlier.  Back to where there are so many memories of love and loss…

Bobbie and Tracie are moved by the plight of the refugees and in particular, the story of the Iranian Hamid, whose young daughter was caught with a New Testament in her possession in Iran, causing Hamid to flee along The Refugee Highway and putting the whole family in danger. Can a network of helpers bring the family to safety in time?  And at what cost?

Filled with action, danger, heartache, and romance, The Long Highway Home is a hymn to freedom in life’s darkest moments.

Review Highlight: 

This novel is absolutely riveting. It’s a beautiful inspiring story of healing, faith and how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. It made me look at the world with fresh eyes as things around us quickly change;...

Click to continue to read the review.  THE LONG HIGHWAY HOME by ELIZABETH MUSSER REVIEWED

THE LONG HIGHWAY HOME by ELIZABETH MUSSER REVIEWED Long Highway Home By Elizabeth Musser Published by Create Space ISBN# 978-1542362726 408 Pages Back ...

Elizabeth Musser's The Sweetest Thing ~ Reviewed

The Sweetest Thing
By Elizabeth Musser
Published by Bethany House
ISBN 978-0-7642-0831-7

Description

Anne "Perri" Singleton's world I defined by the security of family, the camaraderie of friends at an exclusive, Atlanta's girls' school, and an enviable social life. She isn't looking for new friends when Mary Dobbs Dillard arrives from Chicago. Besides, "Dobbs," the passionate and fiercely individualistic daughter of an itinerant minister, is her opposite in every way.

But just as the Great Depression collides disastrously with Perri's well-ordered, friendship blossoms—a friendship that will be tested by jealousy, betrayal, and family secrets....

Review:

The Sweetest Thing is the saga of two friends, who endure heartbreak and trials beyond what most teens ever face. 1933 Atlanta showcases the wealth and poverty of the era. Elizabeth Musser is a master storyteller, who weaves her magic into characters that come alive on the page. It reminded me so much of my childhood friends, that I didn't want it to end. Novel Journey and I give The Sweetest Thing a very high recommendation. A perfect summer read.

Reviewed by: Ane Mulligan, editor
Novel Journey

Bonus Review:

I was glad to receive a review copy of Elizabeth’s new book, The Sweetest Thing, takes place in Atlanta during the depression. I live in Atlanta so it was interesting to read and learn what the city looked like in the 1930’s and how people dealt with hard times.

Elizabeth pens a heart felt story of how two young ladies lives collide in the most unlikely way. Perri Singleton is a popular girl, used to the good life, planning social events and raised in a family with means. Mary Dobbs Dillard has grown-up poor. Her father was an evangelist and the family traveled around preaching revival. They had very little in worldly possessions but she was happy. Mary Dobbs knew a deep personal relationship with her Savior and had seen God provide for her family in very creative ways.

Mary Dobb’s Aunt has offered to help her Evangelistic brother and his family out by taking Mary Dobbs home with her to go to school in Atlanta. Overnight Mary Dobbs world changes in an incredible way. She’s never lived in a beautiful house or eaten so much on a daily basis. When Mary Dobbs starts to share stories about God with Perri Singleton she gets uncomfortable and wonders if they’re true. She never heard anyone talk about God like that. It was so personal.

Then tragedy strikes Perri’s life and her world turns upside down. Perri notices for the first time that Mary Dobbs has a kind heart, a listening ear and a zest for life a poor person shouldn't have. Perri and Mary Dobbs soon become unlikely friends.

Things get crazy as desperate people do desperate things in uncertain times. It’s easy to believe in God when times are good. Everyone’s faith is tested during the depression, even Mary Dobbs and her family. She seeks her mom’s advice with her doubts.

Her mom says, “My dear Mary Dobbs, faith doesn’t work that way. You don’t just believe in Him when you get everything you want…We share in the sufferings of others. We bear the burdens together. We take what comes and we believe. It’s not down here that it will all be equal and okay. It’s later!!!...Lord promises us sometimes we will have hardships and sufferings. He also promised he’d never leave us. His Holy presence is with us here..always!”

Mary Dobbs admits to her mom, “I don’t understand God at all.”

“Our part is to get to know God, as a father and a friend. But to understand Him? His ways are far past our understanding.”

I loved reading about these two girls and how each faced hardship differently. Perri watches Mary Dobbs struggle with her faith and begins to see there just might be some truth in the stories she’s been telling and that God might be real!

The author tells the story from both girls points of view which I enjoyed. Each chapter switched from girl to girl the name of each was on the top of the chapter so you knew exactly who is speaking.

This book is so timely, as our economy took a nose dive a few years ago and we’ve been struggling ever since. Just like in the1930’s peoples faith has been tested. I loved what Elizabeth shared in her acknowledgements as she asks the question.

“Does God provide in the midst of difficult circumstances?

I’ve been twenty years on the mission field watching Him provide for my family in original, and creative ways, let me answer the question with a resounding Yes! I have learned that the ways in which He provides is as important as the provision – and that it is His way, not mine!”

So, true, so true. I highly recommend this story of faith, hope and love! And you’ll walk away from Elizabeth’s story knowing the greatest of these is love!

Reviewed by: Nora St.Laurent

The Book Club Network

Finding Hope Through Fiction

Elizabeth Musser's Searching for Eternity ~ Reviewed

Searching for Eternity
By Elizabeth Musser
Published by Bethany House
ISBN 10: 0-7642-0372-X

Description:

A youth yanked out of the only life he's known to live on the other sire of the Atlantic with a grandmother he's never seen before...

A mother who shrugs off her son's anguish with breezy assurances like, "You'll love America, Emile."...

A father's sudden disappearance from his son's life with no explanation or even a good-bye...

French-born Emile de Bonnery lands in the strange environment of 1960s Atlanta with decidedly mixed emotions. Some memories make Emile want to believe the best of his father.

Others cause him to fear the worst. Does his mother know more than she's willing to tell?

Determined to learn the truth, Emile finds an ally and friend—who seems to be hiding secrets of her own. Together they search for answers...and what they find changes everything.

Review:

Musser does a credible job of this male POV, bringing him from childhood to adulthood emotions without crossing the line of believability. History and mystery are woven throughout this tale of love, of loss, and hard-won forgiveness.

The 60s were a turbulent time in the south, in our nation and the world. Only fifteen to twenty years had passed since the Great War. Musser's pen evokes an ambiance that wraps itself around the reader, drawing them deep into the story and the era. Searching for Eternity receives this reviewer's highest recommendation.

Reviewed by Ane Mulligan
www.anemulligan.com