Book Review: All the Pretty Things

Maybe it was the country western songs peppering the pages, maybe it was her description of living in a trailer, or juggling life with divorced parents. It could have been the way I could relate to the deep and unexplainable love a girl feels for her daddy, no matter what. Whatever the reason, this book invited me in and held me in its grasp through all of its pages and not one chapter was insignificant.

Edie Rudder began her life in the Appalachian Mountains, running wild and chasing after her daddy. Times were hard and life was full of bumps and bruises and excuses and disappointments. One thing led to another and even though she had pulled herself through med school and fashioned a life no one from her background usually even dreamed of, she still felt lost and afraid.

Success, money, family, nothing could fill the void she felt in her inmost heart of hearts. Rising to the top and then losing it all she was finally brought back to the root and center of it all, the love of a Father. Somehow in the midst of it all, she realized that no matter what came her way, God's love for her was unending and unconditional.

Maybe that's it. Maybe that's why the ache won't stop. Maybe it was never supposed to. Maybe it wrings us out and wears us down until we finally see the point of it all-that we have been snatched out of the fire of our brokenness in order to serve and love and bless the dear ones God has placed right in front of our eyes, the ones who need our very meager gifts and offerings the most-the fatherless, the misfits, the prostitutes, the jailbirds, and all those whose despair has rendered them hopeless. 

I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale Publishers in exchange for an honest review.