Bittersweet Beauty
Fiona (Fia) Hume was a Hollywood child star who famously divorced her actor parents, Jessica and Brandon, when she was sixteen, citing financial mismanagement. But that wasn’t the real reason, and she’s never forgiven them for it. She’s spent the last ten years holed up in a mansion in Baltimore collecting antiques to repurpose into artwork. But Jessica is about to release a tell-all autobiography, and Fiona needs some money to fund a trip to New York to tell her side of the story even though she wants to stay in her closed world out of the public eye.A Thing of Beauty is a book of bittersweet beauty. It’s written in first person present tense, and that brings a sense of poignancy and immediacy to the writing, as Fia comes to realise that some of the “truths” she believes about her family and her life aren’t actually true.
A Thing of Beauty isn’t typical Christian fiction—in fact, it’s not made explicitly clear whether any of the characters are Christian, and God isn’t even mentioned. It’s not pretty fiction—Fia had an unusual childhood and traumatic teenage years, and still hasn’t reconciled herself to the truth about that time. Yet the book is filled with grace, love and beauty, sometimes in unexpected people and places.
Women's fiction with a touch of romance, recommended for people who like fiction with complex issues from authors such as Christa Parrish, Angela Hunt and Penelope Stokes.
Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Lisa Samson at her website.
Thanks for your review. Lisa Samson is one of my favorite authors. Sadly, I read that she will no longer be writing due to the changing landscape of publishing and marketing. I hope she changes her mind.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear Lisa Samson won't be writing any more. I've always found her books well-written and thought-provoking.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting.
Excellent review. I've been following the back and forth discussions of this book and look forward to reading it. As one who writes women's fiction from a Christian worldview instead of specifically Christian fiction, I applaud your evenhanded approach to Lisa's work. She's an excellent writer.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI will say it's much easier to write a review of a book I enjoyed than of a book I didn't enjoy. :)