I mentioned this book on this blog post, but promised a review later.
I thought this book was good, and it also shows the moral that we can’t rely too much on money and finances. I know it’s easy to fall into a trap of relying on money and worldly goods during our daily lives, but, we need to learn to rely on our faith in God in order to make our lives complete.
Jeena Gregory is sitting on top of the world – or so she thinks. She has a great, new coveted job, she had a nice home, she’s financially secure. All of her material needs are met, so, why should she rely on God? Having faith in the Lord is for weaklings and she doesn’t need Jesus in her life. However, Jeena’s world slowly crumbles and her finances dwindle and there’s nothing she can do about it. She’s in trouble with the law, through no fault of her own, and she doesn’t know who to turn to. God tries to get Jeena’s attention and it takes awhile for Jeena to listen.
A good portion of this book took place at a women’s homeless shelter. I emailed the author, Miralee Ferrell, about the setting:
You did a great job creating the setting of the women’s homeless shelter. What kind of research did you have to do for that type of setting? Did you visit a shelter, or did you talk to people who were in that situation and they were able to describe what it was like in a women’s shelter?
This is the author’s response:
My sister worked for several years at a men’s shelter where they had a long term program similar to the one I depict. There was also a women’s shelter run by the same group and she put me in touch with a woman who volunteered there. I visited the men’s shelter but was unable to visit the women’s, but had several phone calls with the volunteer, who’d also lived at that same shelter before turning her life around. She lined me out on the rules the women had to follow, the class and work requirements, etc. She was much like Jeena in that she was a working woman who made some very poor choices in her life that caused her to lose not only her home, but her family and end up on the streets. She had a hard time fitting in at the shelter and only made a couple of friends, as most of the women didn’t trust her since she came from a different world than what they had known.
One reason I was drawn to this book was because the author focused on money and financial matters, a subject that I enjoy exploring in my own writing. A very good read with a slightly suspenseful thread.