Monday, June 13, 2011

Book Review ~ The Bride's House

The Bride's House by Sandra Dallas


  "The Bride's House" follows the lives of 3 women within the same family.  Neallie moves to Georgetown as a teenager in order to get away from her abusive father.  While working at a boardinghouse, she meets two men who will profoundly affect her life.  Charlie Dumas, a miner,  loves her and wants to court and marry her but when she meets Will Spaulding, a mining executive, her heart goes to him.  When her and Will come across a house being built, that they affectionately nickname the Bride's House, Neallie has dreams of it one day becoming hers.  When Will abruptly leaves Georgetown and doesn't return Neallie's life is turned into upheaval but the the ever faithful Charlie is still there wanting to marry her.  As a surprise wedding gift, Charlie gives her the Bride's house as her home but Neallie sometimes has a hard time separating the house from her first love.

Pearl is Neallie's daughter who grows up in the Bride's House who dreams of being married there but as her father, Charlie, tightens his grip on her life it seems that dream will never come true as she is way past the marrying age.

Susan, Pearl's daughter also has dreams of being married in the Bride's House but bad life choices may make that dream disappear.

I usually stick mainly to the Christian genre of  fiction, especially love stories,  but this is one of my favorite secular authors because she is not gratuitous and overly descriptive  with sexual descriptions and I was excited for Sandra Dallas's new novel to hit the library.  In fact, I  had a hold on it before they even catalogued it.  And it didn't disappoint.  As with some of her other novels (Prayers for Sale, Whiter than Snow) she transported me, the reader, to a little mining town in the Colorado Mountains.  As I was drawn into Neallie's young life, I hoped for her and cried with her story, and then her daughter and granddaughter's life also brought out an array of emotions for me.  I groaned as they made some of the same mistakes and hoped with them as they hung onto some of the same dreams.  As with the other novels, Sandra takes on a wonderful journey of storytelling through women's lives and throws in a few twists and turns just to make us think.     

7 comments:

Barbara H. said...

I've never read this author, but this sounds interesting.

Faith said...

don't know this author...looks good....i had to stop reading the Invisible Boy...the F word was literally on every page...it just didn't sit right with me..too much swearing..which is sad..i have read other books that have cuss words but this one was particularly offensive to me...so...i am reading a Francine Rivers one....i've only read 2 other books by her and LOVE them!!

Love Bears All Things said...

thank you for this review. I'll look for it.
Mama Bear

Essay Papers said...

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Karen said...

Sandra Dallas is one of my favorite authors. I'm excited to read this, you did a great review. Georgetown is a place we've been to often -- it's fun to read books where the settings are so familiar.

Trish said...

Sounds like a good one!

Anonymous said...

I read this book and seriously enjoy every page. It’s fast and lovely. I will recommend it to everyone.