Thursday, September 2, 2021

About the Book

Book: Borrowed Lives

Author: Carol McClain

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Release date: March 2021

God Only Lends Us Those We Love for a Season

Distraught from recent tragedy, Meredith Jaynes takes pity on a young girl who steals from her. Meredith discovers “Bean” lives in a hovel mothering her two younger sisters. The three appear to have been abandoned. With no other homes available, Social Services will separate the siblings. To keep them together, Meredith agrees to foster them on a temporary basis.

Balancing life as a soap maker raising goats in rural Tennessee proved difficult enough before the siblings came into her care. Without Bean’s help, she’d never be able to nurture these children warped by drugs and neglect—let alone manage her goats that possess the talents of Houdini. Harder still is keeping her eccentric family at bay.

Social worker Parker Snow struggles to overcome the breakup with his fiancée. Burdened by his inability to find stable homes for so many children who need love, he believes placing the abandoned girls with Meredith Jaynes is the right decision. Though his world doesn’t promise tomorrow, he hopes Meredith’s does.

But she knows she’s too broken.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Carol McClain is the award-winning author of four novels dealing with real people facing real problems. She is a consummate encourager, and no matter what your faith might look like, you will find compassion, humor and wisdom in her complexly layered, but ultimately readable work.

Aside from writing, she’s a skilled stained-glass artist, an avid hiker and photographer. She lives in East Tennessee. Her most recent interests are her two baby goats Peanut & Buttercup. Like all babies, they love sitting on our laps and being bottle fed.

More from Carol

People.

Their lives are messy, destructive, full of mistakes.

Mostly, their lives are beautiful.

For years, I worked with recovering addicts. When I first heard their tales, shock and disbelief overwhelmed me. I couldn’t understand the pain inflicted upon them by addicted parents or what they did in their own lives.

Without Christ, no redemption could be found in their misery. Doesn’t sound like a fun read, huh? Many recover from their addictive patterns. In the interim, the foster care system serves their families wonderfully.

All these factors, coupled with the theme that lives are only leant to us for a season create a story of hope, humor and redemption.

Aside from seeing faith in Jesus change people’s lives—there are always goats.

I love goats, but my husband hesitated in including them in our lives. Seeing as I live the lives of my characters (I am daft), I gave my protagonist in Borrowed Lives Nubian goats. I raised them in my younger years, and by including them in my story, I could have goats vicariously.

Couple the above (redemption from addiction, foster care, and my obsession for goats) with my love of East Tennessee where the people are kind and friendly, and the scenery unparalleled, Borrowed Lives was born.

MY REVIEW

There are some books that entertain you and then there are those rare books that grip your heart and expose the ugliness of the world. Three young children left alone in a shack with no food or supervision is where this story got my tears going. It is hard for me to understand how a parent can do drugs and not have any compassion for their children. I had to stop myself after I wrote the last sentence. Drug addiction is hard, painful and takes away everything that is good. I have seen the ugly side of drug addiction and know how it destroys a family. In the end everyone loses, even the innocent children.

I appreciate the author writing a story that is raw and realistic. When we are introduced to Bean, Roxie and Crystal tears streamed down my cheeks. These precious gifts from God had now become part of a system that is overcrowded. In the news we can find stories of abuse and neglect everyday where a child has become the victim of a society where children are shoved from one place to another. But there is hope and this story will make you believe in hope, faith, forgiveness and a new beginning.

Meredith is a woman with a big heart. After losing her husband and daughter she has been alone with her anger and grief. When you are hurt it can be easy to turn away from God. Meredith is a hard worker and I loved learning about her soap making. I loved how the author gives readers insight into foster care. Meredith finds herself caring for three precious girls who bring joy back into her life. It was nice to read how they began to feel like a family. Being a foster parent has its rewards but there is also the hard part of letting go when the children are placed with relatives. My heart breaks as I read the ending of this story. Meredith has grown so much emotionally and the children have helped her overcome her grief. I loved reading how she reaches out to God in her darkest moment.

I want to give a big thanks to all those that care for children who have come misplaced from their homes. The story reminded me how important it is to love your children and know that they are a gift from God. I would love to have a follow up story to see what becomes of Meredith and a certain someone who likes her. Thank you to the author for writing a story that highlights the care and love that foster families give to those who feel lost and rejected.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.