The Inheritance
 Carolyn Stearns
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 2003 PublishAmerica
 ISBN: 159129004X

A RebeccasReads author featured in Authors & Books

Two women connected by similar sadness & memories speak about their lives & what it took to heal their wounds.

The Inheritance is much more than that simple sentence. Carolyn Stearns has a remarkable ability to hear the voices of those who have crossed-over, gone before, died & this book expands on her first Spirit-Walking.

Except that isn't all The Inheritance is, either. It's a novel, a memoir, a mental health book & a darn good read, to boot!

Yes, the voice of Martha is, at times, unbearable to hear. Born in the late 1800s, a child of her time & then a teacher who marries a man of God. How can a person with so much be filled with such distaste for life? Except what she thought about life & how she lived is the epitome of the Victorian era as well as Freud's ideas about women.

Yes, Sarah's reminiscences of her life, as she becomes involved in healing Martha's son, are filled with the thoughtlessness so familiar to people of post-WWII, except Sarah survived a wounded childhood about which she cannot think, cannot remember, & from which she cannot heal until she does.

It is when Martha's adult son connects with Sarah for a grief massage after his mother has died, that the voices greet each other & intertwine. Telling their stories, they help each other heal until in a climax, like taking a deep breath after being under water for a long time, freedom is gained, hearts open, spirits soar & love bursts forth.

In other words, Carolyn Stearns' The Inheritance is exceptional: in the telling, in the stories, in the memories & the anticipation of redemption. I found myself praying that both Martha & Sarah would make it through to wisdom, to the other side of their petrified little lives, to where freedom, color & healing reside...& they do, each in their own fashion.

& what is The Inheritance? Ah, you're going to have to read the book to discover that!

Very well done! Thought-provoking & fascinating!

More from Carolyn Stearns:
Spirit-Walking
Where Did All The Water Go?
Quiet Please-Eaglets Growing.

Do catch my Interview with this eclectic author.

Carolyn Stearns is also featured in our Authors & Books

Carolyn Stearns has also reviewed several books for us. To find them use the Search box on our Home Page.
(07/06/03)

Rebecca