“You know you’ve read
a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a
friend.” ~Paul Sweeney
I love books full of adventure, history and/or prophecy,
mystery, danger, intrigue, romance, plot twists, etc.……that’s my kind of
book!
The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate is NOT that kind of
book.
I’ll admit, it was given to me as a gift from a friend so I
wanted to read it for her sake, but when I read the back cover, I was a little
disappointed and just decided it was going to bore me to tears.
Well.
The Prayer Box is a full and sweet story about…..well,
a prayer box. I had never heard of a
prayer box before and don’t know that I ever will again, but the idea is a
wonderful one. This is the story of a
single mom named Tandi, who moves back to the town of her childhood with her
two children to start over and get her life in order. She is hired to clean an old house that was
left vacant by the death of its owner, an old, reclusive woman named Iola. Turns out very few people cared for the
mysterious Ms. Iola and very few ever really tried to get to know her.
When Tandi discovers some beautiful boxes full of letters
that Iola had written through the years, scores of them, her curiosity is
piqued and she starts to read them.
These letters aren’t to a long lost lover or to a child living far
away. They are to her Heavenly
Father. They are years of prayers given
for the very townspeople who had shunned Iola during her life.
The real story of this book is the story of Iola Poole, as
told in bits and pieces through the prayer letters. Tandi’s story just kind of comes alongside it
and makes it better. Tandi’s faith is
floundering at best, and she learns more about herself and her God than she
ever dreams while reading these prayers written over decades of one lonely
woman’s life.
Lisa Wingate is a well known author and a very good one, and
truly, this book does not disappoint. It’s
not one to get the heart racing, but it is one to get the heart feeling. I recommend it to anyone who loves a good,
solid, sweet story that will draw you closer to your loving Heavenly Father and
make you feel like you’ve lost a friend at the end.
P.S. And by the way,
to my pleasant surprise, there is, in fact, some mystery and a legit twist at
the end! AND there is a sequel called The
Story Keeper that is also very, very good and worth your time.
Happy reading,
Miriam
