Review: Do Read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 10, 2011
William's Orphaned Hearts presents an intriguing contrast between the power of faith and the basic, limiting struggles of humankind.It's the Great Depression, and the holidays approach. Single Pastor David Langley, himself once an orphan, reaches out to a young Caleb, an orphan in his parish. David knows loneliness and he tries to avert the sad life he expects Caleb to struggle into...but the authorities will prevent him from doing all he hopes for the boy. He knows how much Caleb will desire a home - but he doubts himself as able to make a difference, and he struggles even to understand his own feelings.Sadie Miller is a townie and a spinster and seems the perfect solution for Caleb. She's also a super tough and persistent lady; definitely not one to dwell on what `could have been.' Of all the characters, she's the absolute standout, and although she understands both sorrow and loneliness, she never dwells on it, but pursues ideas and life in general with admirable determination. She admits hopes about David - but David's thoughts seem to bound between the past and hopes for the future.In fact, David's sad moments of self-reflection and dwelling on the past might be slightly overdone - we do revisit the pastor's history to add pathos to many a scene. This does slow the plot on occasion, but you will certainly never be tempted to stop reading. It is after all, David's tragedy - his loss, his remembered loneliness and desire for a home - that ties together all the challenges presented in this novel.For tragedy is indeed the background for this moving novel; past tragedies, current sorrows and un-ordinary struggles; yet the tone (though there is some gentle sadness) is not melancholy. There is a persistent underlying goodness that gives us hope throughout. Love, we feel certain, will surely lead to a kind of triumph... Williams handles this emotionally moving story with enormous subtlety. Dark though any description might seem, the book itself is uplifting. Do read.Originally posted at The Long and Short of It Romance Reviews