Shades of Morning opens up with a beautiful picture of a special needs (Down Syndrome) boy, Emmit, laying out in the snow making snow angels. The sweet opening is short lived though as tragedy strikes and changes Emmit's whole world.
The scene is quickly changed to flashbacks of the other characters in the book. Marnie, the main character, owns a coffee shop/book store and is doing well for herself. She is surrounded by people who care about her, people who don't know her past. Then, one day Marnie receives a letter that turns her life upside down, again.
Flashback to Marnie and her older sister, Rose (biological sister), who are foster children whose birth mother left them at a young age - Rose is keeping a secret about their mother that Marnie is bound and determined to find out!
Marnie Helen Wittier is not a wimp...she wears leather and rides a Harley. She doesn't take any gruff from anyone! She has lived a life of rejection, starting with her own mom. Why did her mother leave her and her sister? Was she that unlovable?
The writer does an excellent job of portraying the inner-most thoughts of a girl who has been put in the 'system'. Marnie has made her mistakes and run away from them to start a new life far away from the mistakes & the man who revolves around them.
Will Marnie ever deserve to be loved in the way that her heart yearns for? How can God forgive her? For that fact, where was God when all this was happening? How can God mend her heart and bring her to a place where she can put the past behind her? Especially, when Marnie is trying to bring the past to the present with her incessant pleading to find her birth mother. People are telling her to leave the past alone, don't meddle in the past. But Marnie doesn't listen.
In Shades of Morning, you will read about; Emmit, a special needs child (who Marnie doesn't know about until her sister, Rose, dies and leaves him to her to care for); two sisters, Marnie and Rose, who were placed in the foster care system; a young attorney, Taylor Cole, whose desires are to help the innocent and to touch the heart of a young lady who rejects him at every turn; and what true reconciliation with God is like!
This book will take you on a topsy-turvy tale that leaves you spinning at times, at other times you will gain insight to God's purpose for your life and the love that He has for you. The main character, Marnie, also gives us a bird's eye view, if you will, to a modern/goth type that many of the church going crowd don't care for, we can be so judgemental with each other whether its a hair style, wearing pants to church (oh no! Not that!), or if you have a nose piercing... wearing a floral dress and high heel shoes doesn't make you a nicer person or better Christian. God loves us where we are, no matter what we wear or how we style our hair. This book will also give you alot of insight into the life of a Down Syndrome child and the special joy that comes from a relationship with such a child.
I also liked the way the author exposes materialism and how society is regarding position, wealth and other things. Here are a few quotes from the book that I thought were very provocative:
"Decency couldn't be bought at Saks; honor wasn't purchased at Nordstom. It wasn't gained by knowing the right words to say, the right purse to carry, the right way to do your hair and nails. Instead beauty often hid in ugliness. And wonder often dressed in ratty clothes. The trick was seeing the truth, recognizing the beauty God placed in each person."
Read Shades of Morning for yourself to find out how it ends...
Author Bio: Marlo Schalesky is the author of several books, including Beyond the Night and Empty Womb, Aching Heart. A graduate of Stanford University, Marlo also has a Masters of Theology with an emphasis in biblical studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. Married over twenty years, she lives with her husband, Bryan, and their five children in California.
You may purchase your copy of Shades of Morning from Amazon Here:
http://www.amazon.com/Shades-Morning-Novel-Marlo-Schalesky/dp/1601420250/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278002286&sr=8-1
I received this book to review from the publishers. Whatever I write about on this blog is completely my opinion.
The scene is quickly changed to flashbacks of the other characters in the book. Marnie, the main character, owns a coffee shop/book store and is doing well for herself. She is surrounded by people who care about her, people who don't know her past. Then, one day Marnie receives a letter that turns her life upside down, again.
Flashback to Marnie and her older sister, Rose (biological sister), who are foster children whose birth mother left them at a young age - Rose is keeping a secret about their mother that Marnie is bound and determined to find out!
Marnie Helen Wittier is not a wimp...she wears leather and rides a Harley. She doesn't take any gruff from anyone! She has lived a life of rejection, starting with her own mom. Why did her mother leave her and her sister? Was she that unlovable?
The writer does an excellent job of portraying the inner-most thoughts of a girl who has been put in the 'system'. Marnie has made her mistakes and run away from them to start a new life far away from the mistakes & the man who revolves around them.
Will Marnie ever deserve to be loved in the way that her heart yearns for? How can God forgive her? For that fact, where was God when all this was happening? How can God mend her heart and bring her to a place where she can put the past behind her? Especially, when Marnie is trying to bring the past to the present with her incessant pleading to find her birth mother. People are telling her to leave the past alone, don't meddle in the past. But Marnie doesn't listen.
In Shades of Morning, you will read about; Emmit, a special needs child (who Marnie doesn't know about until her sister, Rose, dies and leaves him to her to care for); two sisters, Marnie and Rose, who were placed in the foster care system; a young attorney, Taylor Cole, whose desires are to help the innocent and to touch the heart of a young lady who rejects him at every turn; and what true reconciliation with God is like!
This book will take you on a topsy-turvy tale that leaves you spinning at times, at other times you will gain insight to God's purpose for your life and the love that He has for you. The main character, Marnie, also gives us a bird's eye view, if you will, to a modern/goth type that many of the church going crowd don't care for, we can be so judgemental with each other whether its a hair style, wearing pants to church (oh no! Not that!), or if you have a nose piercing... wearing a floral dress and high heel shoes doesn't make you a nicer person or better Christian. God loves us where we are, no matter what we wear or how we style our hair. This book will also give you alot of insight into the life of a Down Syndrome child and the special joy that comes from a relationship with such a child.
I also liked the way the author exposes materialism and how society is regarding position, wealth and other things. Here are a few quotes from the book that I thought were very provocative:
"Decency couldn't be bought at Saks; honor wasn't purchased at Nordstom. It wasn't gained by knowing the right words to say, the right purse to carry, the right way to do your hair and nails. Instead beauty often hid in ugliness. And wonder often dressed in ratty clothes. The trick was seeing the truth, recognizing the beauty God placed in each person."
Read Shades of Morning for yourself to find out how it ends...
Author Bio: Marlo Schalesky is the author of several books, including Beyond the Night and Empty Womb, Aching Heart. A graduate of Stanford University, Marlo also has a Masters of Theology with an emphasis in biblical studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. Married over twenty years, she lives with her husband, Bryan, and their five children in California.
You may purchase your copy of Shades of Morning from Amazon Here:
http://www.amazon.com/Shades-Morning-Novel-Marlo-Schalesky/dp/1601420250/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278002286&sr=8-1
I received this book to review from the publishers. Whatever I write about on this blog is completely my opinion.
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