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Biting and gentle,
hard-edged and hopeful...a beautiful fable of love and power, hiding
and seeking, woundedness and redemption. When a "lizard woman," a
self-mutilating preacher, a tattooed monk, and a sleazy lobbyist
find themselves in the same North Carolina town one winter, their
lives are edging precariously close to disaster...and improbably
close to grace.
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Book
Bargains Review
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Lisa Samson has crafted a novel that
will likely thrill her fans. Not only because Samson shows her
immense talent with words in Embrace Me. But because Samson
revisits some characters from previous novels. I was pleasantly
surprised to find out some characters that I grew to love are doing
well -- thriving even. But those folks aren't the focus of the
story.
A character study unlike any I've ever read, Embrace Me,
showcases wounded characters over the span of a decade or so. Drew
emotionally drowns in his selfishness and then attempts to purge the
selfishness out of his system one cigarette at a time. Eventually
his outside scars will mirror his inner ones. Valentine, has become
a cynical and wounded heart encased in a reptilian mask. In an
attempt to survive she sells peeks of her damaged face at a carnival
side-show. Billed as Lizard Woman, she flaunts her pain, but becomes
a prisoner as she will only go out in the darkest moments of the
night. A smattering of additional characters like Lella, the sweet,
selfless "human cocoon" who gives Valentine a reason to go on
living, Gus, a modern day monk, Blaize, the woman who takes
Valentine and Lella in, add richness and even more depth to the
novel.
The story span begins with Drew's meltdown in 2002 and Valentine's
arrival in the late fall of 2008 and the unfolding of details
regarding a very, very small world and a very involved, very big
God.
I will say that some readers might struggle with the subject matter.
Samson doesn't paint false pictures. Her characters are very real,
and often not pretty. They resemble real life churches and families,
those who don't hide their dysfunction under glossy "church face"
glitz and glitter anyway. Rough subjects and rough behavior fill
Embrace Me. One of the reviewers I work with struggled with
writing a review and with finding the point, so unless you like
digging into characters and are unconcerned about plots that leave
breathing room, you might want to look over several reviews before
buying Embrace Me. But if you like Christian fiction that
pushes the envelope and makes you think and get lost in the lives of
broken people...I recommend it.
~ Reviewed by Kelly Klepfer,
a freelance writer living in Iowa. She manages the popular
Novel Reviews
blog spot and contributes to the Novel
Journey blog which has been named one of the Writer's Digest 101
Best Websites for Writers. Her personal blog
Scrambled Dregs
pokes a little deeper into the off-the-wall. She has written for
Focus on the Family's Brio Magazine among other periodicals while
waiting for her novel ideas to percolate into substance and trickle
into the computer.
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