Lady in Waiting Book Review

SUMMARY:  Content in her comfortable marriage of twenty-two years, Jane Lindsay had never expected to watch her husband, Brad, pack his belongings and walk out the door of their Manhattan home.  But when it happens, she feels powerless to stop him and the course of events that follow Brad's departure.
     Jane finds an old ring in a box of relics from a British jumble sale and discovers a Latin inscription in the band along with just one recognizable word:  Jane.  Feeling an instant connection to the mysterious ring bearing her name-sake, Jane begins a journey to learn more about the ring - and perhaps about herself.

     In the sixteenth-century, Lucy Day becomes the dressmaker to Lady Jane Grey, an innocent young woman whose fate seems to be controlled by a dangerous political and religious climate, one threatening to deny her true love and pursuit of her own interests.

     As the stories of both Janes dovetail through the journey of one ring, it becomes clear that each woman has far more influence over her life than she once imagined.  It all comes down to the choices each makes despite the realities they face.

REVIEW:  This was an interesting book.  The story was very well written.  I was drawn into the dual time and story lines.  The idea of a ring connecting the two lives four centuries apart was thought-provoking.  Both women came to the conclusion that they needed to take charge of their lives and stop letting others make decisions for them.  Unfortunately, in Lady Jane's case, her realization came too late.  This was a charming and delightful book and I would recommend this to anyone who loves history, a good story and/or a good book. 

This book was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah for review without compensation.

SUSAN MEISSNER has spent her lifetime as a writer, starting wth her first poem at the age of four.  She is the award-winning author of The Shape of Mercy, White Picket Fences, and many other novels.  When she's not writing, she directs the small groups and connection ministries at her San Diego church.  She and her pastor husband are the parents of four young adults.  Visit her web site at www.susanmeissner.com.

White Picket Fences Blog Tour

The Janviers have the idyllic life - a beautiful home, great jobs, two wonderful kids - and surrounding it all is the proverbial white picket fence that protects them, offers them a serene sense of security ... and hides all their secrets.

When her black sheep brother disappears, Amanda Janvier eagerly takes in her sixteen-year-old niece Tally. The girl is practically an orphan: motherless and living with a father who raises Tally wherever he lands - in a Buick, a pizza joint, a horse farm - and regularly takes off on wild schemes. Amanda envisions that she, her husband, Neil, and their two teenagers can offer the girl stability and a shot at a "normal" life, even though their own storybook lives are about to crumble.

Seventeen-year-old Chase Janvier hasn't seen his cousin in years, and other than a vague curiosity about her strange life, he doesn't expect her arrival will affect him much - or interfere with his growing, disturbing interest in a long-ago house fire that plagues his dreams.

Tally and Chase bond as they interview two Holocaust survivors for a sociology project, and become startlingly aware that the whole family is grappling with hidden secrets, with the echoes of the past, and with the realization that ignoring tragic situations won't make them go away.

Will Tally's presence blow apart their carefully constructed world, revealing a hidden past that could destroy them all - or can she help them find the truth without losing each other? From the author of The Shape of Mercy, one of Publishers Weekly's Best Religious Fiction Books of 2008, comes a tale of family secrets smoldering behind a white picket fence.

WOW! This book had me turning the pages and not wanting to set it down. Susan Meissner's story of a family that looks and thinks they have it all together only to realize that they don't is fantastic. I love the way she weaves the lives of this family and their struggles together. You don't know what is going to happen next and are surprised with the twists and turns. I loved all the characters, especially Tally, but found myself drawn to Josef Bliss and Eliasz Abramovicz. The two men Tally and Chase interviewed were funny and inspiring. Even though they weren't related, they became brothers after all they had been through during World War II. This is an awesome book and I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone!!

Susan Meissner cannot remember a time when she wasn't driven to put her thoughts down on paper. Her novels include The Shape of Mercy, winner of the Christian Book Award for Fiction, and Blue Heart Blessed. Susan and her husband, a pastor and a chaplain in the Air Force Reserves, make their home in Southern California. They are the parents of four grown children.

If you are interesting in purchasing this book or would like more information, click here.