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BOOK REVIEW: The Novelist
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by: Laura V. Hilton Dancing Word Reviewer
Title: The Novelist Author: Angela Hunt Publisher: WestBow Press ISBN: 0-8499-4483-X Genre: Inspirational/Women/Fiction Jordan Casey Kerrigan began writing when she was pregnant with her son, Zack—and Zack has grown up despising her ‘work,’ even though she is a very successful writer, whose twenty spy novels have sold millions. Zack, even though he is in college, rebels the only way he can, by alcohol. Jordan is beside herself trying to figure out how to care for and minister to her son. When she is asked to teach a community college class on writing, Jordan agrees, and starts writing a story in class, different than anything she has ever written. She hopes that the story will minister to Zack—but when Zack threatens suicide, Jordan is driven to the point of panic. Will she be able to reach Zack before it’s too late? William Case is a character created by Jordan for the creative writing class, but he is taking on a life of his own. He is an employee in an arcade games factory, and he is supposed to make new games for the company. All the doors are left unlocked in this town, except one, and William is flabbergasted by why that one is locked. No one seems to know. So William decides to unlock the door and find out. When William discovers what is behind that locked door, it will change his life—and the course of the story—forever. The Novelist is a very intense story with lots of writing advice woven in as Jordan teaches the class. It is almost like attending a mini-writing conference. Jordan struggles with finding time to write and mother her way-ward son and is discouraged that she won’t be able to manage either with the time she needs for class preparation. The way Jordan tries to balance her life is very realistic and the reader will be able to relate to her easily. I couldn’t quite get a grasp on Zack’s behavior, or Jordan’s husband, as the story was written in first person, and I wasn’t privy to their thoughts. There are actually two stories included in this book, intermingled in its pages, one the story of Jordan and her family, the other being William Case’s story. William is also realistic – but not as easily related to as Jordan. I hoped he would make the right decisions. The faith message is expertly woven into both stories, even though in William’s case it is more of an allegory. I thoroughly enjoyed The Novelist and recommend it whether you are a budding author or not. My attention was held throughout the entire book and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. $19.99 hardcover. 320 pages. |
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