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Book Reviews Title Follow
The Stars Home Fiction-Net
Rating Buy It
From Amazon.co.uk - BUY
NOW! Cover
Story Being a good
mother is never simple: each day brings new choices
and challenges. For Dianne
Robbins, being a devoted single mother has resulted
in her greatest joy and her darkest hours. Weeks
before her daughter was born, she and her husband,
Tim McIntosh, receive the news every parent fears.
Tim had not reckoned on their child being anything
less than perfect, and abruptly fled to a solitary
existence on the sea, leaving Dianne with a newborn
- almost alone. It was Tim's
brother, Alan, the town pediatrician, who stood by
Dianne and her exceptional daughter. Throughout the
years of waiting, watching, and caring, Alan hid
his love for his brother's wife. But one of the
many hard choices Dianne has made is to close her
heart toward any man - especially one named
McIntosh. It will take a very special
twelve-year-old to remind them all that love comes
in many forms and can be received with as much
grace as it is given. As lyrical and
moving as the poetry of nature, Follow the Stars
Home is a miracle of storytelling that will take
your breath away. If words alone can dare us to
confront our fears and to choose joy over sorrow,
then Luanne Rice's magnificent novel is a
benediction and a call to celebrate our
lives. We
Say For some people,
hardship or tragedy brings out their best
qualities. In others, hardship and tragedy further
highlights shortcomings and flaws in character.
Parenting a child under normal circumstances is a
daunting task and parenting a child with a serious
handicap is often seen as an insurmountable
challenge. In Luanne Rice's novel, Follow the Stars
Home, Rice examines how Julia, a handicapped child,
affects the lives of those around her. Julia's
handicap serves as a catalyst for many events to
occur despite the struggle of those around her to
keep them from happening. Follow the Stars Home is
a novel that deals with human frailty while
celebrating the strength of the human
spirit. Dianne Robbins
has the misfortune of choosing the wrong brother
for a husband. Not only does Tim, her husband of
choice steal her away from his brother Alan, but he
abandons her when he discovers that their child
will be born with a handicap. What began as a
whirlwind, storybook romance ends in betrayal and
heartache. Throughout the novel, Dianne is
presented as a self sacrificing and devoted mother.
At no time do we see her rant and rave about her
'lot' in life or despair over the unjustness of it
all. We are only given brief glimpses of her
feelings of loneliness and despair. Despite these
glimpses, it is incredibly hard to feel too much
sympathy for her because she is so darn good. The
reader is presented with a mother whose dedication
would put Mother Theresa to shame. In contrast to
her dedication as a mother, Dianne demonstrates an
enormous amount of stupidity in her continued
reluctance to live life. Julia often becomes an
excuse to avoid taking any risks. While it is hard
not to like Dianne, her character seemed two
dimensional and difficult to identify with. Alan
McIntosh is the town pediatrician. Not only is he a
skilled physician, but he has made every effort to
make any and all treatment options available to his
niece Julia to help reduce the need for
hospitalization and lengthen her life. Dedicated to
Julia because she is his niece and also because he
is in love with her mother, he is the stereotypical
good guy that seems to finish last. While his
patience is admirable, it does seem to be a little
difficult to believe. Here is a bright, intelligent
and handsome doctor that remains single because he
is in love with his sister-in-law. Although Dianne
has been separated and divorced from his brother
for years, she is unwilling to get involved with
another man, and Alan just patiently waits in the
sidelines. Perhaps that is the beauty of this
novel, that in this particular case, patience is a
virtue and true love does overcome all obstacles.
Finally there is
Amy, a lonely young girl who has suffered the death
of her father and as a result, essentially lost her
mother. When Amy befriends Dr. Alan McIntosh, he
introduces her as a possible playmate for his
niece. The relationship between Amy and Julia
develops quickly. Amy is able to see beyond Julia's
disabilities and a true friendship develops. Dianne
is also able to recognize Amy's good heart and they
become a source of support for each other. Amy is
perhaps the most engaging character in this novel.
Brutally honest, Amy does not view the world
through rose coloured glasses. Fiercely devoted to
her own mother despite the neglect, Amy longs for a
relationship with her mother equal to that of
Dianne and Julia. Amy is that one child that seems
to stay with you long after she has gone
home. Apparently this
novel has now been turned into a Hallmark, made for
television special. While definitely touching,
Follow the Stars Home lacks the necessary elements
to make it a truly fantastic novel. While there are
intense emotional moments, Rice's attempts to pull
at the heartstrings are a little too obvious.
Still, Follow the Stars Home is an enjoyable book
even if it does not quite reach its full
potential. Review by: Yumi
Nagasaki-Taylor |
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