About book The Heart Mender: A Story Of Second Chances (2010)
The title makes it sound like a romance novel. Thank goodness it’s not. The cover makes it look like average Christian fiction. Thank goodness it’s not. The fact that it is a New York Times best-seller makes it look like pop culture tripe. Thank goodness it’s not!Frankly, I opened The Heart Mender with low expectations because of all its above-mentioned qualities. But I was soon lost in a real page turner. The book appealed to me on many levels. I love World War II history, I love a good story, and I love redemptive themes. Andy Andrews weaves quite a tale and the fact that it is based on true events makes it all the more fascinating. I read it in two sittings because I could barely put it down.Helen is a bitter war widow. Wan is the deputy who has a crush on her. Danny is the autistic boy who teaches her about forgiveness. And Josef is the man who washes up on the beach near her house and changes all their lives.Two factors might make it less appealing to some: A small sprinkling of profanity, and borderline “preachiness”. I have read Christian novels that lay the morals on pretty thickly, so I thought Andrews was restrained in comparison. All in all, a very pleasant read. This is one of a rare breed of stories that I was glad I didn't read reviews about earlier since I felt (in retrospect) that they gave away too much. I even covered up one paragraph on the back cover that I didn't read myself till I was finished in advance of my husband reading it since I know he doesn't like spoilers of any kind. Plus, I'm very interested in finding out how much he knew already since he's extremely knowledgeable about WW2. How did I learn about this book in the first place? It's what my women's ministry chose as one of our summer book club reads. Excellent choice.
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Slow beginnings, got better as story progressed...
—pdhood1
