Callapidder Days

Any time I pick up a novel by Mary DeMuth, I know there’s a good chance I’ll encounter some heartache. Mary writes beautifully about difficult situations, pulling the reader in with her engaging prose and intricately-woven stories. And she doesn’t shy away from the fact that not all difficult situations have neat and tidy endings.

Take, for example, her latest novel, Daisy Chain. From the first chapter, I knew I would love the main character, Jed. Let me give you some background:

Fourteen-year-old Jed Pepper is devastated. His best friend, Daisy Chance, is missing and Jed is sure it’s his fault. After all, he should have walked her home… As Jed and the rest of the town of Defiance, Texas, look for young Daisy, it seems everyone is on edge. Is there a kidnapper — or worse, a killer — loose in the town, endangering the lives of the other children?

But as I quickly discovered, Daisy Chain is not just about a missing little girl. While Jed is looking for Daisy, it turns out he’s also looking for much more.

He’s looking for the courage to stand up to his father — a man who preaches the Bible from the pulpit every Sunday, but terrorizes and intimidates his family during the week.

He’s looking for a way to help his mother, who has retreated behind a wall of headaches and weakness in the face of her husband’s anger.

He’s looking for a God who loves and cares for His children…a God who seems so far away.

And he’s looking for hope in a world filled with illness, lies, danger, and secrets that threaten to destroy.

Admittedly, Daisy Chain was not always easy to read. Jed has to face many things that I’d like to protect my own kids from, and as I read of his pain and despair, I couldn’t help but long for a happy ending for him. Does Jed find a happy ending? You’ll have to read Daisy Chain yourself to find out (and I can assure you that it’s a more complicated answer than I could give you here, anyway!).

But I will tell you this: one of the things I love about Mary DeMuth is that she knows how to infuse hope into her stories. Yes, she likes to keep things “real” by facing, head-on, some of the worst this world can bring. But she always acknowledges that there is a God who is a God of hope, and we can lean on Him and trust Him to deliver us from utter despair.

Earlier this year, I listened to the audiobook version of one of Oprah’s recent book club picks. The story was beautifully written: characters to fall in love with; story lines that kept me curious; loyal pets (they always make a story better, right?); and lots of potential. But the ending reminded me of why I don’t read Oprah picks very often. Essentially, the book ended with, “And then the bad guy got out of control and everyone died. Life is pointless. The end.” Talk about a downer.

I’ll take Daisy Chain any day — real, engaging, sometimes heart-breaking, but ultimately offering hope and pointing readers in the right direction. Thanks, Mary, for a great book!

Want more? Check out this trailer for Daisy Chain:

And if you’re interested in reading more reviews of this book, check out the blog tour headquarters, where you can find all the blogs that will be posting about Daisy Chain this week.

Daisy Chain, the first book in the Defiance Texas Trilogy, is available at local booksellers and on Amazon.com.