Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock

What can I say about Promises to Keep?

Well, first of all, the character Roz is going up in my fiction hall of fame as one of the most honest characters ever!  I loved her eleven year old voice.  Clear and observant.  Not so much a child of the sixties, but a young girl living in the time period of social upheaval, as the happenings in her life reflect the turmoil of the era.

What I loved about her is the grace and hope that she exhibits in spite all evidence to the contrary.  Her father is an abuser, and yet she still loves him and sees the good in him.  She hopes for the best, though the odds that he will change are not good.

It is a story about dreams.  Dreams that include her father's love and being a family restored.

In the end, this book is about the Father's love, the yearnings that we all have, to experience unconditional love and security.  It's about the small moments and desires of the heart, and finding that one in a million best friend, who just happens to share the same dream.   And the faith that wins out- even if it's not the kind of winning we would have expected.  As I found out, Ann Tatlock does not write the expected.

What she does is get you thinking.  Am I living the small moments in my life to the fullest?  The baby's smile, the teenager's droll sense of humor, the family sitting around the table... the sunset?

Am I walking hand in hand with my Father?