"A Book You'll Want to Tell Everyone About!"

Remember the last time you read a book so wonderful you wanted to tell everyone you knew about it? One such book is GOOD HOPE ROAD which takes place in the aftermath of a tornado. The book is told in alternating first person POV by Jenilee Lane, a 21 year-old woman whose family has been called the "worst white trash" of the small town of Poetry, Missouri and of Eudora Gibson, the 78-year-old woman Jenilee saves when her house is destroyed by the tornado The author has done a fabulous job with these characters and in telling this fabulous, fabulous story.

Jenilee is stunned but unhurt as she watches a powerful tornado pass near her rural home. As stunned as she is, she knows she has to check on her neighbors including elderly Eudora Gibson. Jenilee's father and brother have taken their truck and gone to a cattle auction so she takes the only transportation available -- a tractor and stops at the Gibson farm. What she sees shocks her -- the stately old home is completely gone. Calling for Mrs. Gibson, she finally hears noises from a nearby cellar -- the door of which is blocked by a large tree limb. She uses the tractor to remove the tree limb and saves the life of not only Mrs. Gibson but of little Lacy, Mrs. Gibson's six-year-old granddaughter.

The next day Jenilee heads out for town but on the way she picks up fragments of the lives of many of the townspeople - - photographs, mementos, and letters -- things she is sure someone will miss. On her way to town she comes upon a high school classmate and the two of them make their way to the devastation that was once the town of Poetry.

Even though her only medical experience has been assisting the local veterinarian, Jenilee bravely steps in and does what she needs to aide both the physically wounded and the emotionally wounded residents at the armory that has become a makeshift hospital. Many of the people she helps have known all her life but who always thought of her as "white trash" and the victim of who-knows-what-abuse at the hands of her alcoholic father. One by one, the townspeople see that they have been wrong about Jenilee. After she has done all she can helping the wounded, Jenilee remembers her bag of photos. She posts them on the walls of the armory -- and in seeing pieces of the things they thought they had lost, the townspeople begin to have hope for the future.

It's a story of hope and of second chances --for a 21-year- old woman and the elderly woman who becomes her unlikely friend, a middle-aged doctor who has lost the will to care, an elderly man who has harbored a big secret for nearly six decades, and a young couple who has become victim of the baggage the man brought into their relationship.

It's a quick read and so uplifting I needed to wipe the tears from my eyes several times. I loved it so much I am off to order this author's first book, TENDING ROSES.

Reviewed by Maudeen Wachsmith
Posted May 26, 2003

Read an Excerpt

Written by today's freshest new talents and selected by New American Library, NAL Accent novels touch on subjects close to a woman's heart, from friendship to family to finding our place in the world. The Conversation Guides included in each book are intended to enrich the individual reading experience, as well as encourage us to explore these topics together—because books, and life, are meant for sharing.

Summary

In a time of crisis, two women come together... And set off down a road of hope...

Good Hope Road is the long-awaited follow up to Lisa Wingate's national bestselling first novel, Tending Roses. If you've ever been inspired by the ability of ordinary people to rise above extraordinary tragedy, let the residents of Poetry, Missouri lift your heart as they rise from the ashes of a deadly tornado.

Eudora Gibson - Trapped underground by the tornado and trapped in the bitterness of the past, unwilling to be rescued by young Jenilee Lane, the neighbor to whom she has always turned a cold shoulder, she must face the secrets of the past to find a new path to the future.

Jenilee Lane - Imprisoned in the world of her struggling family and her alcoholic father, desperate to break free and find herself, she must discover an inner strength she never knew she possessed.

Dr. Michael Albright - Forced off the road by the tornado, a stranger on the verge of physical and emotional collapse, he must open himself to the caring of others to rebuild his shattered life and rediscover the man he once was.

Brought close by tragedy, those whose paths merge on Good Hope Road will learn lessons about the resilience of the human spirit and the ties that make a community strong.