Pieces of the Heart by Bonnie S. Calhoun

Pieces of the Heart is the kind of book that, after you read the last page and close the book, you find yourself--opening it up again. Is there more? I have tears in my eyes as I read the end notes. I have lived a life time right along with the characters. I grasp onto a bit more of history that feels deeply personal.

Bonnie Calhoun deftly tells the story of young African American, Cordelia Grace, who falls in love at 13 with her "super-hero" Bernard when he rescues her from neighborhood bullies. For all of his bravado, Bernard suffers at the hand of his abusive father.

Cordelia's life is pretty swell. Her father is the pastor of a fairly large congregation and her mother is a paragon of style. Though their priorities are a bit out of whack, Cordelia has her Grammy's unconditional-- yet uncompromising love, wisdom, and faith as her bedrock--along with prayers that have been lovingly stitched into a Pinecone Quilt. A prayer covering for her life.

But this book is about change. The ravages of World War II, mental and psychological damage, fear of poverty, and abuse of power threaten to overwhelm the love of the Savior, destroy the spirit, and unravel relationships that seem destined before the foundations of the world.

Pieces of the Heart is the perfect title for a book that cuts your heart into tiny pieces and then puts it back together in surprising and beautiful ways. It celebrates the pieces of our lives fashioned into a work of art designed by the Creator God who feels our pain and never gives up on us.

I must warn that reading this book just might inspire you to stitch up a prayer quilt of your own, or perhaps pick up an abandoned project waiting for you to return...

God bless you!

Please read on for more information about Pieces of the Heart!

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Pieces of the Heart

Abingdon Press (June 1, 2013)


by

Bonnie S. Calhoun


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bonnie S. Calhoun is Owner/Director of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, owner/publisher of Christian Fiction Online Magazine, Northeast Zone Director for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), the ACFW ‘2011 Mentor of the Year,” President of (CAN) Christian Authors Network, and Appointment Coordinator for both the Colorado Christian Writers Conference (CCWC) and the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference(GPCWC).


For the last six years she has taught workshops in Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, and creating Social Media promotions at both CCWC, and GPCWC, and in 2011 at the Montrose, Pa Christian Writers Conference. She also taught a Facebook workshop at the 2012 ACFW conference.


Bonnie and her husband live in a log cabin in upstate area of New York with a dog and cat who think she’s wait-staff.


Her sites are:

https://www.facebook.com/bonniescalhounsnarkandsuspense
 https://www.facebook.com/bscalhoun

 ABOUT THE BOOK

Cordelia Grace watched Bernard Howard, the love of her young life, go off to fight for our country in WWII. And she has spent the last three years creating the Pine Cone quilt that will grace their marriage bed when he comes home. Each row of triangles signifies a layer in her life, sets of memories, hopes, dreams, and prayers for her future, enough spoken words to cover them forever. Her image of their “happy-ever-after” grows proportionally as the quilt expands.


But is the man that returns from the war, the same man that she remembered? Are the dark shades of color that she had to use for the outside edges of the beloved quilt prophetic of her life to come? Can love and faith overcome all?


If you would like to read teh first chapter of Pieces of the Heart, go HERE.