The Edge of Grace by Christa Allan Review ~~ Pump Up Your Book

Join Christa Allan, author of the contemporary fiction novel, The Edge of Grace(Abingdon Press), as she virtually tours the blogosphere September 5 – 30 2011 on her second virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About Christa Allan

A true Southern woman who knows that any cook worth her gumbo always starts with a roux and who never wears white after Labor Day, The Edge of Grace is Christa’s second novel. Her debut women’s fiction, Walking on Broken Glass, released in February from Abingdon Press. She is under contract for three more novels that will release in 2012 and 2013. She has been teaching high school English for over twenty years, earning her National Board Certification in 2007. The mother of five adult children and the totally smitten Grammy of two granddaughters, Christa and her veterinarian husband, Ken, live in Abita Springs, Louisiana.

Visit her website at www.christaallan.com.

You can connect with Christa at Facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/ChristaAllan.Author.

About The Edge of Grace

When Caryn Becker answers the telephone on most Saturday morning, it’s generally not a prelude to disaster. Except this time, her brother David’s call shifts her universe. Her emotional reserves are already depleted being a single parent to six-year-old Ben after the unexpected death of her husband Harrison. But when David is the target of a brutal hate crime, Caryn has to decide what she’s willing to risk, including revealing her own secrets, to help her brother.  A family ultimately explores the struggle of acceptance, the grace of forgiveness, and moving from prejudice to love others as they are, not as we’d like them to be.

My Thoughts:

The Edge of Grace by Christa Allan is a wonderful story about how a woman comes to terms with her only brother's announcement that he is gay. Her thoughts of "how will this affect my son?", "how will this affect my business?", "what will people think?", "what do I tell my son?".  This story is a bit different than some I have read on homosexuality in that it was told by a family member and not the gay person. At times I felt like throttling Caryn and telling her to just deal with it and move on. Well that is easier said than done. It is a difficult situation to deal with as a family member as well as for the person that is coming out of the closet if you will. As a mother in this same situation it was hard for me at first to come to accept the announcement from my own child. As opposed to how Caryn found out, with a phone call, as a mother I always had a feeling, so it was easier for me to accept the situation. Caryn is a caterer and needs all the business she can get and was very worried how her clients would feel about the fact that she had a gay brother. After a scary situation that puts David in the hospital,  Caryn gets to meet David's partner for the first time and finds herself slowing changing and coming to terms with the situation. I really enjoyed this novel and I could often sympathize with the all the characters. A novel of overcoming hate and prejudice and the gracefulness of forgiveness and love.  I give it 5 stars!!!