Book Review ~ Beneath the Night Tree by Nicole Baart

This is the last in the series of Julia DeSmit, a young girl who has had a very tough childhood. With her mother abandoning her when young and her father dying of cancer she was raised by her grandmother. In this part of her life Julia is a young 24 year old with the responsibilities of someone much older, living with her grandmother raising her 5 year old son and her 10 year old half-brother whom her mother also abandoned. Her life is finally seems back on track. She has a job that she loves, is going back to school and has been in a solid, loving relationship for 5 years. But there are still struggles. Michael, her boyfriend, is attending medical school in a city 6 hours away so their relationship is long distance. Julia longs to be married to Michael but he instead of a marriage proposal he asks her to move to the city, abandoning her life, not for marriage but just to be closer to him so they can see if they should move toward something more permanent. Her brother is constantly struggling with feeling loved and accepted and she feels a deep instinct to care for him but feels helpless at times. Her grandmother is getting older before her eyes. Then she gets the email that will once again change her life forever. She has never had contact with her son's father since he left her in a college parking lot after she refused to get an abortion. Now he is contacting her apologizing and asking if he has a child. She struggles whether she should even reply but decides that both her son and his father need to know about each other. As she deals with the fallout of the decision and the implications of what it will do to her relationship with Michael and her life, her world seems to spiral out of control and she grasps for hope and faith that it will turn out for good.

 I loved this series by Nicole Baart. Her writing grips my emotions and draws me right in from beginning to end. I really felt for Julia as she deals with what life has given her and tries to do the right thing. Her relationship with her grandmother is beautiful and I love how the character of her grandmother has been a strong, quiet guide pointing her to faith without preaching constantly at her. This was such a wonderful wrap up to the story of Julia as she struggles to find love, acceptance and faith.