♥♥♥♥♥: Homefires by Emily Sue Harvey

Homefires
Emily Sue Harvey

Release Date: June 7th, 2011

Publisher: The Story Plant 

Page Count: 451

Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher, via Pump Up Your Book Promotions, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you both!)

Homefires is set in the Deep South’s Bible-belt on the eve of unprecedented moral changes. It is the story of Janeece and Kirk Crenshaw, a couple married just after their high school graduation who set out to make a life for themselves. It is a life marked by surprises, none more dramatic than when Kirk receives his “high-calling” and becomes a pastor. It is a life marked by tragedy, the most heart-rending of which is the death of one of their children. And it is a life marked by challenges: to their church, to their community, and most decidedly to their marriage. And as the fullness of time makes its impact on their union, Kirk and Janeece must face the question of whether they have gone as far as they can together.

Filled with the rich emotions and evocative characters that readers have come to expect from Emily Sue Harvey, and reminiscent of the work of Jan Karon and Anne Rivers Siddons, Homefires is a poignant and compelling novel that will steal readers' hearts.

What Stephanie Thinks: While I can tell Emily Sue Harvey carefully emplaces lots of sentiment into each word she writes, her overall complacent tone makes her novels difficult to enjoy. If Homefires was the first book written by her I had read, I wouldn't be saying this. In fact, I would be willing to give her another chance. But Homefires is her second chance. The first chance started with Song of Renewal, which I reviewed back in January. It was written to be a heartwarming story, but I personally could not feel the "heartwarming" part.

Back to Homefires, though. As a whole, it's a sweet, wholesome Christian novel that follows the romance, as well as the times and troubles of Janeece and Kirk Crenshaw. There are a few elements that tasted unfit for my palate, however:

1. A self-absorbed cast. Every character in this book makes me cringe. They all align on extreme ends of personality spectrums. Some characters are too nasty, some are too saccharine, some are too shell-shocked, to realistically imagine. But each of them has one thing in common: they think their way is the best way, and though it isn't said aloud, it's evident they would all refuse any other way but their own. The most naïve, and consequently, most annoying, is Janeece, who of course, narrates the story. Some characters, I feel like I could tolerate; Kirk, for example. He may not be the ideal husband, but even with his flaws, he seems genuine and charismatic. Unfortunately, Homefires is not told from Kirk's point of view; it's told from Janeece's. 

2. Superiority from the author. I know most writers have the right to consider their work the best work, but is it necessary to bring it into the text? When Janeece speaks, she speaks condescendingly, as if everything she has to say is the most important, and most fulfilling. I would not mind this if Janeece and Harvey really were as profound as they think they are.

3. No structured expression in plot. The book isn't arduous, in terms of conventions. In fact, Harvey's style reads very smooth and the only complaint I have about it, is that it is drawn out to cover 451 pages. However, nothing actually happens in the story. Sure, little mishaps and small delights scatter all throughout the novel, but, aside from Harvey's point that family and love will always prevail, I get no satisfaction out of reading this book.

I have one more thing to criticize (or, if you look at it sardonically, you could say poke fun at). Homefires ruined italics for me. Do authors have no shame in written structural conduct? Italics in prose can only be properly used for emphasis (provided, you don't count book titles, thoughts, foreign words, definitions, et cetera). There is no point in using italics if you are going to italicize every other word. Not only does it get annoying for me as a reader, but it's also displaces all the emphasis that should be put in a sentence, which weakens the writing on so many levels. Do I make myself clear?

Stephanie Loves: "I knew [Kirk] would quit smoking if he could. When he could. And I knew that just as he wasn't perfect, neither was I. I knew by now there was no Knight in shining armor." This is probably a slap of reality for Janeece—one she has to make a point by using three italicized words with. Arguably, those few sentences were probably light on italics, compared to other passages throughout the novel.

Radical Rating: 5 hearts: Doesn't particularly light any of my fires; I feel indifferent about this book. ♥♥♥♥♥

♥♥♥♥♥♥: Song of Renewal by Emily Sue Harvey

Song of Renewal
Emily Sue Harvey

Page Count: 300
Release Date: 22 February, 2011 (expanded reprint version)
Publisher: The Story Plant
Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher, via Romancing the Book, in exchange for an honest an unbiased review (thank you both!)

The Wakefields seem to have everything. Garrison is a hugely successful graphic artist. Liza is an active member of the community and a patron of the arts. Their 16-year-old daughter Angel is bright, beautiful, and a gifted dancer. At the same time, though, they have traded away many of their dreams. Garrison gave up a future as an accomplished painter to make money. Liza suspended her own dancing career to raise a family. And Angel is setting aside her ambitions to live her mother's dream.

When Angel gets into a car accident that kills her first love, the Wakefields' lives turn on a dime. While Angel lies in a coma from which even the best prognosis is devastating, Garrison and Liza sit by her side, their once-passionate marriage in tatters. As their heartache over Angel builds, Garrison and Liza struggle to rediscover who they once were—and who they were meant to be. They come to realize that it will take everything they have within themselves to heal Angel, heal their hearts, and renew the power of their love.

At once romantic, inspiring, and empowering, Song of Renewal is a rare bauble of a novel, one with something to say to every family.

What Stephanie Thought: The premise of this book had so much potential. Even the blurb was heartbreaking. But the blurb is pretty much the best thing that happened.

It wasn't that I didn't want to enjoy Song of Renewal. Honestly, it wasn't. But the character development was so weak, that it sort of happened on its own.

Angel in the story, who the reader doesn't really get to know since she is comatose for the majority of it, is under the impression that her father doesn't love her. Emily Sue Harvey tries to make the point through Liza, Angel's mother's words, that he is just stoic in nature, and that he loves Angel very much. But to me, Angel seemed pretty spot-on. In the prologue, is the scene of Angel's birth, and the first thing Garrison thinks when he sees the newborn is: Godammit, I wanted a son! That sort of tells you what his attitude is like throughout the entire book. No matter what he argues ("I DO love you, sweetheart") it makes it rather hard to believe.

And then there is Liza. Harvey attempts to create Liza as a beautiful, ethereal mother-figure, but she's just about the last person I would want as a mother. Just about as egotistic as Garrison, possibly even more, she forces Angel to become a "dancer" (read, bulimic) her whole life, failing to see the reluctance in the child's eyes until AFTER she is on her deathbed.

The characters were too self-absorbed and oblivious for me to really enjoy this story.  Nonetheless, I finished it because it was an easy read. It drew out seemingly unimportant scenes (4/5 of the novel was Liza and Garrison's inner battles that involved them talking to themselves a lot) but it wasn't painful to finish or anything. I really expected to like it, and for the most part, the plot was really genuine, but Harvey's writing style and her poor characterization both disappointed me.

Stephanie Loves: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." (quote by Henry David Thoreau)

Radical Rating: 6 hearts: Satisfying for a first read, but I'm not going back. ♥♥♥♥♥♥