Lindsay Harrel presents a powerful story of healing, forgiveness, and finding the courage to write your own story. A year after the death of her abusive fiancé, domestic violence counselor Sophia Barrett finds returning to work too painful. She escapes to Cornwall, England—a place she’s learned to love through the words of her favorite author—and finds a place to stay with the requirement that she help out in the bookstore underneath the room she’s renting. Given her love of all things literary, it seems like the perfect place to find peace. Ginny Rose is an American living in Cornwall, sure that if she saves the bookstore she co-owns with her husband then she can save her marriage as well. Fighting to keep the first place she feels like she belongs, she brainstorms with her brother-in-law, William, and Sophia to try to keep the charming bookstore afloat. |
The lives of the three women intertwine as each learns the power she has over the story of her life.
Release date: February 26, 2019
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
I read Lindsay Harrel's debut novel not that long ago, it truly moved me in a way that a novel seldom does. So it naturall followed that I would want to read her next book when it came out. The Secrets Of Paper And Ink was another excellent read, just a little different from its predecessor. I finished the book a short while ago but I know that it is one that I will be pondering, digesting, for awhile yet.
This book features the intertwined stories of three women. Two of them are contemporary and the third is from the Victorian Era. Over a century spans their lives but they intersect in a way that could only be called a God thing. Each of them has been hurt, by circumstances, and by the people closest to them. And each of them must work their way through the pain and find their identity in the only One who will always be there for them, and for us. This is the overarching theme that will resonate with women readers of all ages.
A thought-provoking story, The Secrets Of Paper And Ink is a book to both enjoy and ponder. It's easy to get immersed in the lives of Sophia, Ginny, and Emily, but it is equally as easy to see the parallels in our own lives. To see that when life hands you lemons, search for the sugar that can only come from the hand of God, and make it into lemonade.
Lindsay Harrel may be a new author in what I would call women's fiction but she is also one to watch. I for one, am looking forward to reading more from this talented author.
Tell Tale Book Reviews gives The Secrets Of Paper And Ink by Lindsay Harrel a 4.5 Bark rating.
Guest Post
Lately, I am learning more and more about the power of our words. I’ve become more conscious of the words I speak over myself as well as what I say to other people. It’s more than “positive thinking”—the words we say ultimately contribute to the stories we weave, and I want my story to be as positive and hope-filled as possible, regardless of my circumstances.
I’ve also become much more aware of the lies that I tell myself—“you are not worthy, you are not enough, you will never achieve what you want to achieve”—and the need to replace those lies with the truths that God says about me. I have listened to Lauren Daigle’s song You Say on repeat lately, and it has become a theme not just of The Secrets of Paper and Ink, but one in the story of my very life.
So while I may not have experienced everything my characters have—I’ve never suffered emotional abuse, or been ostracized by my family, or been orphaned and alone in a world that seems against me at every turn—I have learned alongside them. I set out to write a book that would draw readers closer to the true healer and hope giver, and I ended up being drawn closer myself.
And that, to me, is the true power of story.
-Lindsay Harrel-
Lindsay Harrel is a lifelong book nerd who lives in Arizona with her young family and two golden retrievers in serious need of training. She’s held a variety of writing and editing jobs over the years and now juggles stay-at-home mommyhood with writing novels. When she’s not writing or chasing after her children, Lindsay enjoys making a fool of herself at Zumba, curling up with anything by Jane Austen, and savoring sour candy one piece at a time. Connect with her at LindsayHarrel.com. |
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