book review: Song of the Brokenhearted by Sheila Walsh & Cindy Coloma

A snippet from the Book Description:

Ava’s safe world becomes unanchored, and she is forced to face the childhood she’s run away from her entire life. Just as she’s trying to sift through the pieces, the doorbell rings and Ava is confronted with the surprise of her life.


Ava must set out on a journey that takes her back home—something Ava hasn’t done in twenty years. As she travels across the state of Texas, strangers offer her kindness and remind her of the meaning of hope and forgiveness.

My Review:
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Ava has come a long way from her hurtful childhood in Sheila Walsh and Cindy Coloma’s latest book Song of the Brokenhearted. Now the perfect image of someone who has it all together, Ava runs the Broken Hearts Ministry out of her Dallas church with compassion and smooth efficiency.

But no sooner are we clued in to her student daughter Sienna’s impending wedding, her high school son Jason’s prowess at football, and husband Dane’s successful business when things begin to fall apart in an almost Job-like way.

By the end of the story Ava is at the point of herself needing help from Broken Hearts as she faces the broken pieces of her life and, worse, feels compelled to revisit her painful past even though she  has to do it in the old VW van and without a credit card in sight.

The setting and day-to-day activities of this middle-aged urbanite and her family felt believable and easy to relate to. I especially enjoyed the description of Ava’s impulsive road trip through Texas near the book’s end. Meeting her quirky family was a delight for me, even though it gave her no pleasure. 

The way Ava’s past came back to haunt her is a lesson to us all that we ignore a painful past at our peril. On the other hand, the story illustrates that there are treasures to be mined even from hurt and God, in His surprising way, can turn old torments into healings and a new start.

(I received this book as a gift from the publisher for the purpose of writing a review.)


Book Facts:

Title: Song of the Brokenhearted
Author: Sheila Walsh & Cindy Coloma
Publisher: Thomas Nelson, paperback & Kindle, August 21, 2012.
 ISBN-10: 1595546871 
ISBN-13: 978-1595546876