The Edge of Belonging
About the Book
When Ivy Rose returns to her hometown to oversee her late grandmother's estate sale, she soon discovers that the woman left behind more than trinkets and photo frames -- she provided a path to the truth behind Ivy's adoption. Shocked, Ivy seeks clues to her past, but a key piece to the mystery is missing.
Twenty-four years earlier, Harvey James finds an abandoned newborn who gives him a sense of human connection for the first time in his life. His desire to care for the baby runs up against the stark fact that he is homeless. When he becomes entwined with two people seeking to help him find his way, Harvey knows he must keep the baby a secret or risk losing the only person he's ever loved.
In this dual-timeline story from debut novelist Amanda Cox, the truth -- both the search for it and the desire to keep it from others -- takes center stage as Ivy and Harvey grapple with love, loss, and letting go.
My Thoughts
A homeless man finds a newborn.
Yeah, my heart was hooked from the first page!
But it gets better. Harvey, Pearl, Thomas, and Miriam, with all their past experiences, intertwine in the most unlikely ways, pulled together by this newborn girl and the gospel. The characters' struggles touched on veteran PTSD, depression, infertility, and the foster care system. Each aspect of the story was very immersive, and, well, Pearl is the kind of grandmotherly figure I hope I'll be.
The back of the book says that this is a dual timeline story, but it actually bounces around from 1994 to 1999 to the present day, and the triple-time was a little hard to follow. (Highly possible that it was because I was reading in quick snatches, but still!)
In the present-day storyline, Ivy's time with her boyfriend Seth was brief, but this author did a great job portraying emotional abuse red flags in a dating relationship. They were a tad exaggerated but got the point across well. Reese was a darling who reminded me of my hubby :) and I enjoyed watching Ivy fall for "the good guy". Romance is timeless, whatever cynics say. I'll never get tired of a good love story.
Overall, debut author Amanda Cox has the art of gut-punching down to a science.
"Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and the hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.'" Luke 14:23 NKJV
5 out of 5 stars
I received this book from the publisher and happily provided my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.*