When Iola Anne Poole passes
away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental
cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out
Iola's rambling Victorian house. Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi
never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola's walls,
but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully decorated
prayer boxes, one for each year, spanning from Iola's youth to her last days.
Hidden in the boxes is the story of a lifetime, written on random bits of
paper--the hopes and wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex
woman passing through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life filled with
journeys of faith, observations on love, and one final lesson that could change
everything for Tandi.
This novel is a good character drama. The prayer boxes
uncover bits of Iola’s life and her connection to the community, as well as why
she was misunderstood. Through it all, Tandi is learning more about her own
strength, healing her relationship with her teenage daughter, and trying to
believe in her own right to have love and respect in her life.
Received 4 stars on Goodreads
and can be found in the Adult fiction section of the library.
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