The description on the back of the book is brief:
When a "lizard woman", a self-mutilating preacher, a tattooed monk, and a sleazy lobbyist find themselves in the same North Carolina town one winter, their lives are edging precariously close to disaster... and improbably close to grace.And it's hard to describe the book better without giving too much away other than to say that while it appears to be a story about a circus freak show, that is the most minor element. This is a story of two people's journeys, masterfully written by Lisa Samson. The story is told in segments from each of their perspectives and while at first they seem to be unconnected the plot twists that bring them together were really something!
Valentine is the "lizard woman" whose face is horribly disfigured. Her only friend is Lella, a sweet woman with no arms or legs, whom Valentine cares for. The majority of their story takes place one winter during the off season of the traveling circus.Drew is a preacher who's done something so horrible he can't forgive himself, doesn't believe in God anymore, and is trying to escape, but keeps finding people who bring him back to God. His story is told in flashbacks as he writes it out for a Catholic priest who's befriended him.
When these two finally get together during the winter of 2008 (set slightly in the future!) hearts cannot be left untouched, even if it means pain before healing.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book even though I didn't know what to expect from the book jacket. A good book to me is one that I can't figure out the ending and this one kept me hanging until about 2/3 of the way through. Then the way she wrapped it up was very powerful.
Next on my "to check out from the library" list will be Quaker Summer also written by Sampson since I enjoyed this one so much!
To see Embrace Me at Amazon.com go here.
i just finished quaker summer and enjoyed it, but not as much as the other 2 lisa samson books i had read and loved so much that i vowed to read all of her books. quaker summer is good - you'll enjoy it. i can't wait to read embrace me. i really like her writing style. i love that the characters are so real and that she touches on subjects that many christian authors won't - or maybe she just deals with them in a different way that i appreciate. she is a gifted writer for sure. enjoy!
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