Unsung Lullaby

I won this book during Karlene's Summer Reading Thing. Josi even shipped it to me personally, and I took it with me when I went to San Diego, but I ended up doing most of the driving and didn't get to read it. When we got home, life got in the way and I didn't get to it until Christmas break.

Stepping over the threshold seemed symbolic of a certain level of acceptance- a joining of the hopes and dreams formed within these walls to the bitter reality that those dreams were dead. They would not have a child-not ever.

For years, Matt and Maddie have held onto their hope of becoming parents. Now, suddenly faced with the reality that they will not have a child together, Matt is shocked to discover that the consequences of a past mistake may change their lives forever. Having completed the steps of repentance years earlier, Matt has chosen not to tell Maddie about his prior misuse of intimacy. But how can he tell her now- especially when she seems locked inside her own sorrow? In this story of loss, forgiveness, and perseverance, a romantic beginning transitions into a true love story made stronger through the trials the characters face and overcome together.

Published: May 2006

Josi is a wonderful writer. I love how she paints each and every scene in her books with reality, and this book is no different.

There is the scene where Maddie is mad at God for what is or rather what is not happening in her life and she lets Him know it. I swear Josi tapped into my prayers and captured this one word for word- or maybe this particular prayer is one that we all have to have with the Lord at one point or another in our lives in order to grow.

Or there is the way that Matt talks himself out of listening to the spirit. Which of us hasn't done it and used some of the same reasons ourselves. And the consequences are always worse than they would have been if we had just listened to start with.

Or how about the way Walter was so excited to be able to pick out paint? I could see the expression on his little face when he realized that it would be his, all his. Or when he got to pick out a surprise for Maddie?

And then there were the adoption issues. Been there, felt them and Josi got them exactly right, again.

I really liked this book. It was a quick read, but it wasn't light and frivilous. These people feel real emotions and express them in realistic ways. I felt their highs as well as their despairs. In fact, Matt and Maddie are people I would like to have as friends.