Reclaiming Lily by Patti Lacy

Heads up! I’m giving away a copy of this book! Read on for details. 

I met Patti Lacy in cyberspace a couple of years ago. Though published, I learned she had signed a contract with Bethany House right after I did. Then I read one of her books, The Rhythm of Secrets, and was blown away by the emotional punch it packed. Last month, I finally got to hug her neck in person at the ACFW conference!

Needless to say, I’ve been very excited about her new book, Reclaiming Lily. The premise had me hooked the moment I read it. A daughter adopted from China, straddling two cultures that have collide in an out-of-control teenager. The Chinese sister she’s never known now a doctor in the US with family medical history that is a ticking time bomb. A perfect recipe for drama.

What surprised me about the book was that I expected  the American family to be center stage. But Reclaiming Lily is truly Kai’s story. I found myself enthralled with her history through the cultural revolution in China. How it changed and shaped her. How it propelled her into the conflict in which she finds herself in the story. Of course we learn about the adoptive family, too, but I found myself glad that Kai carried the story because I was fascinated by her thought processes and her history. In the end, they all felt like family. 

Obviously I’m not going to give the story away, but suffice it to say I enjoyed the journey. Patti’s tag line for her fiction is Spanning Seas and Secrets. Reclaiming Lily does exactly that. 

I happened to get two copies of this book, so I’m giving away one. (It’s contemporary fiction, in case you didn’t pick that up.) Just leave a comment and you’ll be entered in the random drawing. You have through Friday, October 21, to comment for a chance to win!

The Rhythm of Secrets by Patti Lacy

I’ve resolved to use my Wednesday posts to tell about the latest book I’ve read, because as I’ve said before, so many of my friends and favorite authors have books coming out this year. I hope in the course of my reflections you’ll find a new favorite book or author!

I “met” Patii Lacy online over a year ago. Now while my kids would not count us as “real” friends, we have not only emailed, we’ve actually spoken on the phone! And shortly after we became friends, we both sold books to Bethany House that will release in the fall of 2011! (Hers is contemporary fiction.) So while we have yet to meet face-to-face, we’ve truly become fast friends.

Until now, though, I hadn’t read one of her books. Then came The Rhythm of Secrets. Oh. My. Goodness. This story will grab hold of your heart and keep you reading. Set in that “no man’s land” (not contemporary, not historical) of the Vietnam War era, Patti tells the story of Sheila Franklin—or would that be Sylvia Allen? Or perhaps Sheba Alexander? From the shattering of her young world in the French Quarter of New Orleans to the splintering of the new life she created in Chicago, this is a story of grace and redemption reminds me yet again that my God can redeem even the most painful pasts, bring freedom in the revelation of even the most devastating secrets.

After reading The Rhythm of Secrets, I can’t wait for Reclaiming Lily to arrive in the fall!