Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

The Weekly Read

What Gone With the Wind would be like on a ship: Review of Forsaken Dreams by MaryLu Tyndall

I’m a big fan of Gone with the Wind, and Scarlett O’Hara, love her or hate her, is a complex and well-written character. (If your only reference to GWTW is the movie, then I tell you now, READ THE BOOK!)

And if you’re a fan of the Civil War-era stories and strong leading ladies, then MaryLu Tyndall has a new book you’ll want to add to your to-be-read pile.

forsaken dreams coverForsaken Dreams, the first in her new series Escape to Paradise, introduces a group of Southerners, just after the Civil War has ended, who are looking to start over. They all pay for passage on a ship headed for Brazil to start a new colony. Among the passengers is Eliza Crawford, Southern-born widow of a Union general, and Colonel Blake Wallace, wanted for war crimes and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Eliza and Blake are the central characters in this book. In subsequent books, other characters will take center stage.

The story takes us along on their journey from Charleston, South Carolina, through the Caribbean and Atlantic waters to Brazil. Of course, nothing is easy, and the tension that unfolds from the beginning of the story until its end is gut-wrenching and soul-piercing. Tyndall crafts an action-packed story from the first page and it doesn’t let up until the end. Even as I neared the final pages, I wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out.

The characters in this story are well-developed and realistic. I especially liked Eliza. She had me at this line: “I fear I’ve always been too adventurous for my own good.” I wouldn’t say those words about myself, necessarily, but they stir something in me. Eliza is no wilting Southern flower. She is strong and capable and steps forward where others step back. She’s described this way by Blake:

War has a way of stealing one’s innocence. As well as strengthening their character. However, in your case, this pluck of yours seems more something you were born with than something acquired.

And Blake is a flawed hero–the best kind, really. He’s not perfect. He often reacts with his instincts and his PTSD episodes are painful and frighteningly real. Eliza describes her attraction to him this way:

Yet something about him tugged on her, drawing her thoughts and heart like the needle of a compass to true north. And as with a compass, there seemed to be naught she could do to change its direction.

Perhaps my favorite part of the whole story is that it’s based in history. An unknown number of Southerners migrated to Brazil after the war to create what they hoped would be a utopian society after the devastation of the Civil War. This is a piece of  history I’ve never heard before. It makes for a compelling tale.

As Blake says to a fellow passenger, “Brazil is the last hope for many of us.”

The second installment of this series releases in November, which seems a long time from now. I’ll be waiting anxiously for the continuing story and a chance to journey further with this group. They feel like friends already.

In exchange for my review, I received a free copy of the book from the author.

How to care for the least: Review of Orphan Justice by Johnny Carr

In one of my favorite movies, Ever After (a Cinderella adaptation), the prince, who is being influenced by the lady’s passion for equality and the poor, says these words: “I used to think that if I cared about one thing, I’d have to care about everything.”

I confess, my attitude toward adoption and caring for the world’s orphans has resembled those words. I love children, and the idea that there are children literally starving to death and dying from preventable diseases anywhere in the world breaks my heart. And I have been reluctant to open my heart to that kind of pain, afraid that I would become discouraged that I can’t take them all home, love them like they ought to be loved, or provide for all their basic needs.

So, I’m encouraged by a new book that challenges the Church’s attitude about orphans and adoption, as well as offers varied ways the Church can be involved in orphan care, not only through adoption.

orphan justiceIn Orphan Justice: How to Care for Orphans Beyond Adopting, Johnny Carr, who works for the largest adoption and orphan care agency in the U.S., presents a case for the Church to do its part to care for orphaned children, domestically and globally. And he isn’t always nice about it.

Nor should he be.

From the beginning of the book, Carr lays out the problem–153 million kids worldwide who have lost one or both parents, which is twice the total number of children in the U.S.–and reveals his own journey from American Dreamer to Orphan Advocate.

Every time I heard about missionaries digging clean wells, working with HIV/AIDS patients, or trying to alleviate poverty, I rolled my eyes. Why are they wasting their time? I thought. Don’t they know that the gospel is what really counts? … But now as I look back, I see how narrow-minded I was. … I didn’t realize I was missing the true meaning of religion–one that includes BOTH sharing the gospel and meeting people’s physical needs.

Carr and his wife have adopted three children with special needs, and throughout the book, he readily admits his own struggles to care about children with special needs, much less make them part of his family. And I think that’s a strength of this book. Carr’s journey is one many of us can relate to: of wanting to serve God only when it suits us, then being transformed by the real-life plight of those in extreme poverty.

Each chapter addresses an issue related to orphan care, such as human trafficking, orphanages, foster care, and poverty. Carr writes about the impact each of these areas has on the worldwide orphan population and gives ideas of what churches and Christians can do to care for orphans. At the end of each chapter is a three-tiered approach to getting involved, offering ideas that anyone can do, many can do, and a few can do. I appreciate this because Carr doesn’t assume that everyone can contribute at the same level, but he doesn’t let anyone off the hook for getting involved.

Overall, I found Orphan Justice to be informative and inspiring. I learned more about orphan care, including the idea that orphanages are not a “solution” and how churches can support adoptive families and families involved with the foster care system. My “social justice” beliefs are under development and the principles and stories in this book have helped with that development.

I no longer fear a broken heart when confronted with the realities of caring for the least of these. Equipped with practical insight such as is found in this book, I’m more ready to take the risk and be involved in orphan care.

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In exchange for this review, I was given a copy of Orphan Justice.