Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

infertility

Saying ‘yes’ to God: Review of The Lucky Few by Heather Avis

My experience of motherhood couldn’t be more different from Heather Avis’, author of The Lucky Few, but I loved this memoir of adoption and found it relatable in so many ways. (It’s much more than just a story of adoption, though.) Heather’s story is about what happens when you say “yes” to God in a season that seems all wrong and find that it’s the only place you ever wanted to be.

The Luck y Few is a story about Heather’s experience with infertility and her struggle for joy as she watched others around her (including family) become pregnant. And how everything changed when she and her husband were led to adopt a baby with Down Syndrome.

I first heard Heather speak on a podcast about how her kids with Down Syndrome are such a joy and treasure in her life, and that’s how I discovered this book. (Check out her Instagram: @macymakesmyday) It would be easy to call her and her husband heroes but they are just people who walked the path on which God led them. Even if you don’t think adoption is your path, this book is relatable if you find yourself presented with a God-given opportunity that you never thought would be yours. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the Booklook Bloggers program but opinion is my honest one.)

Heather doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges nor does she demand that others do exactly as they have done. The book is full of grace and is so inspiring. I believe the title is true. They are “the lucky few.”

 

An emotional journey: Review of The Art of Losing Yourself by Katie Ganshert

Two things I can count on when I read a novel by Katie Ganshert: deeply developed characters and gut-wrenching conflict. The Art of Losing Yourself has the former in half-sisters Carmen and Gracie, who are unexpectedly “reunited” when 17-year-old Gracie runs away from home to find refuge in the only place that brought her joy. And it’s full of the latter. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher through the Blogging for Books program.)losing yourself

One of Ganshert’s strengths in her books is addressing issues that are neither simple nor sweet. (Her previous books have contained themes of grief, widowhood, and brokenness.) In this book, Gracie has an alcoholic mother and has basically raised herself for a lot of years. She’s a troubled teen who doesn’t always make the best decisions. And Carmen, though her life looks outwardly perfect, has suffered infertility and her marriage is breaking because of it. There are deep emotions from both of these women, scenes where I could almost hear the shouting and ones that left me in tears because of the words that weren’t said.

Ganshert writes this book from the first-person point of view of both characters, which was a hard shift for my brain to make sometimes but I still enjoyed the perspective. I loved the dialogue between characters and the turns of phrase Ganshert uses to describe feelings and situations. Gracie’s POV was believable for a teenager, and Carmen’s was accurate for a woman whose outward appearance is a mask for her inward turmoil.

It’s the kind of complex story I’ve come to appreciate from Ganshert. Not a straight-up romance full of fluff but a book about all kinds of relationships: with God, others and self.

If you’ve known the devastation of infertility, you might be able to relate to Carmen’s character, but if the wounds are still fresh, maybe save this one for another time.