The Memory Keeper

The House On Foster Hill by Jaime Jo Wright is a fabulous Christian historical and contemporary suspense that had me consumed from the start.

Two parallel tales surrounding the old house on Foster Hill have the reader trying to join all the dots. Action is set in present day and 1906. Both leading ladies are recovering from loss. They feel guilty and tormented and need to make peace with God. They have pushed Him away in their pain. “Wishing she had reconciled enough with God to pray.”

Hardship will cause us to move away from God or closer to Him. We need to cling to Him, especially when all looks hopeless. “God, please bring me hope.” God is the God of hope. When we know Him, we can have hope. “I need to find hope to live again.” When we lose hope, we lose the will to live. Sometimes we just need to cling on to God and trust Him in the dark. “I can’t see God’s light… I believe. In Jesus… but I can’t see His promise of a future.”

The novel is about roots. We want to find out who we are and where we belong. We want to preserve memories of those who have gone before.

We need to learn to trust God and others. In our hurt and pain, we push others away.

There are crimes and mysteries to solve. The reader is hooked and guessing.

Using women is an age old game. Where there are unscrupulous men, women will be manipulated. It need strong characters to fight for women.

The characters were wonderfully drawn. I loved them all. There were strong women in both time periods who championed the cause of others. A thinking woman in 1906 showed herself to be ahead of her time.

Jaime Jo Wright is a new author to me but I certainly intend to read many more of her books.

I received this book for free from Net Galley. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON