Our Family

Our Family

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Review: The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck





Book Description " From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Dress comes a new captivating novel of secrets, romance, and two women bound together across time by a shared dream.

Tenley Roth’s first book was a runaway bestseller. Now that her second book is due, she’s locked in fear. Can she repeat her earlier success or is she a fraud who has run out of inspiration?

With pressure mounting from her publisher, Tenley is weighted with writer’s block. But when her estranged mother calls asking Tenley to help her through chemotherapy, she packs up for Florida where she meets handsome furniture designer Jonas Sullivan and discovers the story her heart’s been missing.

A century earlier, another woman wrote at the same desk with hopes and fears of her own. Born during the Gilded Age, Birdie Shehorn is the daughter of the old money Knickerbockers. Under the strict control of her mother, her every move is decided ahead of time, even whom she’ll marry. But Birdie has dreams she doesn’t know how to realize. She wants to tell stories, write novels, make an impact on the world. When she discovers her mother has taken extreme measures to manipulate her future, she must choose between submission and security or forging a brand new way all on her own.

Tenley and Birdie are from two very different worlds, but fate has bound them together in a way time cannot erase. "

If you have never read any of Rachel Hauck's books and you enjoy Christian fiction, you need to read some of her books!  The Wedding Dress remains one of my favorite books of all time.  The Wedding Shop and The Wedding Chapel were also amazing along with the Royal Wedding Series.  When I saw that she had a new book coming out, I could not wait to read it! 

The story is told using 4 different people's perspectives, two in the present and two in the past.  In the present we have  Tenley and also Jonas Sullivan.  Tenley has a great grandfather and a father who were acclaimed authors.  In her grief over losing her father, she writes a romance that immediately becomes a best seller.  She struggles with writers block because she fears that she is a one hit wonder with a name that people recognize.  Jonas is a good, honest family man who has been hurt by his best friend and ex-fiancée.  He meets Tenley when we comes to remove a desk in her mother's house, The Writing Desk.  In the past we have Birdie Shehorn and Eli.  Birdie is a wealthy heiress who desires the ability to craft stories and decide her own future.  Eli's family had money and he is titled, but the family wealth has all but disappeared.  He needs to marry someone wealthy to secure his future.

The Writing Desk is a very well crafted story. Each of the characters are well developed and believable, although even thinking about the wealth some of the families had during the Gilded Age is beyond my imagination. The story transitions very well from the past to the present.  The plot was very interesting to me because when you as a reader find a book that you love you wonder if the author is going to be able to write another that will be as good or better.  The Writing Desk presents that dilemma from the author's side.  But, the story does not really focus on Tenley's writer's block.  Yes that is part of the larger story but the main ideas are about love and forgiveness, trusting God and finding your own path in life regardless of what other people think or believe about you.  The Writing Desk will make you laugh and cry, teach you about forgiveness, and that God can use anything for a great purpose.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of The Writing Desk for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance to the FTC regulations.

No comments: