Saturday, October 8, 2011

Book Review and Giveaway Info: Reclaiming Lily

About the book

A storm the size of Texas brews when Gloria Powell and Kai Chang meet in a Ft. Worth hotel. They have come to discuss the future of Lily, the daughter Gloria adopted from China and the sister Kai hopes to reclaim. Kai is a doctor who had to give up her little sister during the Cultural Revolution and has since discovered that an inherited genetic defect may be waiting to fatally strike Lily.
 
Gloria's relationship with her daughter is tattered and strained, and the arrival of Kai, despite the woman's apparent good intentions, makes Gloria fearful. Gloria longs to restore her relationship with Lily, but in the wake of this potentially devastating diagnosis, is Kai an answer to prayer--or will her arrival force Gloria to sacrifice more than she ever imagined?

My thoughts
It took me a little bit to really get into this book, but once I did, I had a hard time putting it down.  I enjoyed learning a bit about the Cultural Revolution in China, which I knew little about was encouraged to research more.  (For those interested, you can learn a bit more about it here: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cultural_revolution.htm .) Reclaiming Lily, takes the reader from a small village in China to Texas and then onto Boston, as you learn about how Lily came to be adopted and the struggles that Gloria, Kai, and Lily face as their lives become intertwined with one another.  Kai and Gloria both have a deep love for Lily and want what they believe is best for her.  At times, Gloria seems to know best what that is and at times Kai does and in the end, it is Lily who ends up making the decisions for herself.  I enjoyed watching Lily awaken as she discovered her new-found family and was able to reconnect with her Chinese side.  I also enjoyed watching Gloria come to realize that she was not the perfect mother and how she dealt with that.  I also very much enjoyed the tender relationship that Gloria has with her pastor husband.  Kai also undergoes extreme growth as she faces her own medical issues, her struggles with her beliefs and those of Christianity, and her love life.  I recommend this book to any one who enjoys heart-warming family stories, and those who have adopted, plan to adopt, or were adopted from another culture, particularly China.  While the book deals with the adoption of a Chinese girl, it serves to remind us that those who put a child up for adoption have their reasons and while we may believe we could never do the same, we do not know their individual circumstances.  It also serves to remind us that although we are all human, knowing about our cultural heritage is important and should not be ignored, even if we never end up experiencing any of it first hand.


About the author
Patti Lacy graduated from Baylor University with a BS in education and completed master's-level courses in English at Indiana State University . She taught at Heartland Community College until May 2006, when she resigned to pursue her passion of writing. The author of three previous novels, Patti is the mother of two grown children and lives with her husband in Normal , Illinois .
 
For more about Patti and her other books, visit her website at www.pattilacy.com.

About the giveaway
 

  Win a KindleTouch from Patti Lacy!
Patti Lacy is celebrating the release of her latest book, Reclaiming Lily,  with a KindleTouch Giveaway, blog tour and FB Book Chat Party!

Follow the blog tour and read the reviews!

Patti and her publisher, Bethany House, are giving away a Reclaiming Lily prize package worth over $150 to one lucky winner!!!!

Enter the Reclaiming Lily Giveaway and you could win:
  • A brand new just released KindleTouch with Wi-Fi
  • $25 gift cetificate to Amazon.com
But, wait there’s more!


Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. Giveaway ends on 10/19! Patti will be announcing the winner of the Reclaiming Lily Giveaway at her Party on Facebook October 20th! She’ll be hosting a book club chat of Reclaiming Lily (it's okay if you haven't read it - you could win a copy!) and giving away other fun prizes! (signed copies of her books and gift certificates to Amazon.com, Starbucks, & iTunes!). Don’t miss the fun at Patti’s FB Author Page on 10/20/11 at 5pm PST ( 6 pm MST, 7 pm CST, & 8 pm EST)! RSVP today!
Enter via E-mail Enter via FacebookEnter via Twitter
Disclaimer
Thank you to Litfuse Publicity Group and the author for providing me with a copy of this book for review purposes.  My opinion is my own and was not influenced by anyone else.
 

1 comment:

  1. Danielle, what a lovely site! Your passion for your family just leaps from the page!!!

    Thank you for spending time with my fourth baby, "Reclaiming Lily." And thanks for trumpeting MOMHOOD!!!!

    ReplyDelete