Pieces of the Heart by Bonnie Calhoun

MY REVIEW
This is the second book from Calhoun, and I think it indicates her diversity as an author.

I deeply enjoyed learning more about the racism during WWII which I had studied several years ago. I also enjoyed the story as it progressed through Cordelia's life from little girl to young woman, and the story line details were no surprise or different from my studies.

As the reader is drawn into Cordelia's life, the sense of God's hand, the prayers and faith, and the pine cone quilt are fascinating facets of how older women mentor younger women, and how wisdom is conveyed and learned. Practical application of wisdom learned is another facet that Calhoun stitches into the storyline. Character development is fairly good. It doesn't take long to care what happens to Cordelia and Bernard, such as when Bernard is off to war and Cordelia has to deal with the church removing her from the house that she had grown up in because her pastor father and mother had passed away. It is touching how Cordelia deals with the loss... no more spoilers :)

I did find difficulty in correlating the back copy blurbs with what the story is actually about, which is the growing up years of Cordelia and Bernard, her knight in shining armor who saved her from bullies and kept her heart safe. Then the couple are separated when Bernard goes off to war. His travails are interesting, but it is hard to grapple with the two main characters as a couple when they spend most of the last half of the book apart. When Bernard comes back from the war, their marriage and the subsequent trials from dealing with the PTSD is much more brief than the cover leads you to believe.

4 of 5 stars

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Pieces of the Heart Abingdon Press (June 1, 2013) by Bonnie S. Calhoun

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bonnie S. Calhoun is Owner/Director of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, owner/publisher of Christian Fiction Online Magazine, Northeast Zone Director for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), the ACFW ‘2011 Mentor of the Year,” President of (CAN) Christian Authors Network, and Appointment Coordinator for both the Colorado Christian Writers Conference (CCWC) and the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference(GPCWC).

For the last six years she has taught workshops in Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, and creating Social Media promotions at both CCWC, and GPCWC, and in 2011 at the Montrose, Pa Christian Writers Conference. She also taught a Facebook workshop at the 2012 ACFW conference.

Bonnie and her husband live in a log cabin in upstate area of New York with a dog and cat who think she’s wait-staff.

Her sites are: https://www.facebook.com/bonniescalhounsnarkandsuspense
https://www.facebook.com/bscalhoun

ABOUT THE BOOK

Cordelia Grace watched Bernard Howard, the love of her young life, go off to fight for our country in WWII. And she has spent the last three years creating the Pine Cone quilt that will grace their marriage bed when he comes home. Each row of triangles signifies a layer in her life, sets of memories, hopes, dreams, and prayers for her future, enough spoken words to cover them forever. Her image of their “happy-ever-after” grows proportionally as the quilt expands.

But is the man that returns from the war, the same man that she remembered? Are the dark shades of color that she had to use for the outside edges of the beloved quilt prophetic of her life to come? Can love and faith overcome all?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Pieces of the Heart, go HERE.