A Promise in Pieces

by Emily T. Wierenga

(A Quilts of Love Story)

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!

Description

A baby quilt touches many hearts as it travels from family to family and through generations.

After the end of World War II, Clara Kirkpatrick returns from the Women’s Army Corp to deliver a dying soldier’s last wishes: convey his love to his young widow, Mattie, with apologies for the missed life they had planned to share.

Struggling with her own post-war trauma, Clara thinks she’s not prepared to handle the grief of this broken family. Yet upon meeting Mattie, and receiving a baby quilt that will never cuddle the soldier’s baby, Clara vows to honor the sacrifices that family made.

Now a labor and delivery nurse in her rural hometown, Clara wraps each new babe in the gifted quilt and later stitches the child’s name into the cloth. As each new child is welcomed by the quilt, Clara begins to wonder whatever happened to Mattie—and if her own life would ever experience the love of a newborn. Little does she know that she will have the opportunity to re-gift the special quilt—years later and carrying even greater significance than when it was first bestowed.

This book can be purchased at the following locations:
http://www.amazon.com/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
http://www.christianbook.com/
http://www.deepershopping.com/

Biography

I am a wife, mother, and believer.

I am an eating disorder survivor, who makes art with words and paint.

I have two books coming out, this year and next, on the eating disorder journey. The first is 'Chasing Silhouettes: How to Help a Loved One Battling an Eating Disorder' (Ampelon, 2012), and the second, co-authored by Dr. Dena Cabrera, is 'Mom in the Mirror: Body Image, Beauty and Life After Pregnancy' (Rowman and Littlefield, 2013).

My first book, 'Save My Children: The Story of a Father's Love,' was published by Castle Quay Books in September of 2008.

I am represented by Sandra Bishop of MacGregor Literary. I also serve as a volunteer counselor through FINDINGbalance and am a Navigator with the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).

I am a monthly columnist for the Christian Courier, arts feature editor for TS Poetry, regular contributor to A Deeper Story, and a paid contributor to The High Calling. A former associate editor, ghostwriter and staff writer, I have written for Christianity Today (Kyria), Christian Week, Faith Today, Adbusters, Geez, The Anglican Planet, Focus on the Family, Christian Courier, and In Touch, in addition to having served as copy editor for the Christian Courier.

In May of 2012 my news story for Faith Today, "Parents Forgive their Child's Abductor," took first place in the Canadian Church Press Awards. According to Judge Mark Bourrie, "This is a very moving piece. The sense of joy, hope, faith and forgiveness that comes through simply grabs the heart. An inspiring story. Wierenga captures the terror of every parent's worst fear and tells how the parents of Kienan Hebert's faith never wavered in spite of the tremendous test that it faced. Told with sensitivity, care and skill. "

When I'm not writing, I play guitar, and I paint. My prints and paintings are sold worldwide, and can be found on Etsy through my shop entitled, CanvasChild.

My husband, Trenton, is a math and science teacher. We've been married nine years, have two boys named Aiden Grey (born Nov. 12, 2009) and Kasher Jude (July 25, 2011) and are foster parents to Joey and Jin. We live in rural Alberta, where we snowboard, make wine and go geocaching.

I come from a home-schooling heritage; my mum has overcome brain cancer. She is my song. My dad is her hero. He cares for her daily and pastors a church. I am the eldest of four.

I love to travel. In June of 2009, an excerpt from one of my books secured a trip to a writing workshop in Lake Como, Italy; I've also been to the Dominican Republic, Australia, Korea-where Trent and i taught English for a year-Lebanon, Jordan, Japan, China, Mexico, Holland, England and Germany. When I was young, I lived in Africa along with my parents who were missionaries.

Mine is a broken story, shared regularly on my blog.

Thank you, for standing with me in this literary and artistic chaos.

Live in love.

http://www.emilywierenga.com/

https://www.facebook.com/emilytwierenga

My Review ~

My skills as a reviewer cannot begin to summarize this book and do it justice. This book needs to be absorbed piece by piece like the blocks and stitches in the quilt that holds this story together. The fact that this is Emily T. Wierenga's debut novel is astonishing! It is impressive that a young woman created the life story of an elderly woman with such incredible depth of feeling and insight. The author displays wisdom beyond her years in portraying the yearnings, passion, emotions and realities in the life of the main character in "A Promise in Pieces."

The layers in this story are like the layers of a quilt, bits and pieces of cloth that comprise the top, batting which adds thickness and warmth, a backing to encase the batting, and the stitches which strengthen and bind the quilt together. As Clara's life unfolds and her faith is many times questioned assurance is realized through the light of something tangible in her life, and the scheme of God's plans are revealed, strengthening her resolve. 

This is one woman's story, her journey of faith, her fears and dreams, the journey she travels throughout her life, and the people who become the focus in her life. This is an amazing piece of art that may be lost on young readers who lack the experiences of older readers, but I believe that the lessons learned throughout this beautiful story can be applied to anyone's life. I highly recommend "A Promise in Pieces" as a remarkable and brilliant narrative! I look forward to future books by this author!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Abingdon Press through the Book Fun program, a program sponsored by The Book Club Network, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own, and no monetary compensation was received for this review.