{Review} BACKING AWAY FORWARD: LOVE, HATE, AND FORGIVENESS by Diane Paley

ISBN #: 978-1621832546

Page Count: 222

Copyright: January 14, 2015

Publisher: Brighton Publishing LLC

Book Description:

(Taken from Amazon)

Sara's early life is one of abject poverty, as she survives her mother's physical and verbal abuse, her father's indifference, and the dreadful feelings of loneliness and being unloved. Her exposure to broken dreams starts young, when her beloved white dog mysteriously disappears, and her mother abruptly douses the one bright spot in her life: her music lessons.

The product of an unhappy, broken marriage, Sara yearns for her parents' love but can't ever seem to earn it. If not for the happy influence of her grandmother, she might never have known love as a child. The loss of her grandmother leaves Sara hopeless and alone at age sixteen, with little chance of ever escaping her mother and her dismal situation. Then, upon her graduation from high school, she receives a letter and a gift from beyond the grave that brings a new hope into her life. Suddenly things that never seemed possible may become a reality for her.

Over the following years, Sara discovers what it's like to find love, both real and imagined, and to reach for success in college and her budding career as an accountant. True friends and passionate lovers come and go. A move to Hawaii seems like the start of a new life-but complications arise from her choice of men, and a shocking marriage proposal tempts her.

Throughout her life, Sara remembers the grandmother who taught her that life can be grand and love is a happy possibility-even for someone who starts life as a poverty-stricken, abused, and rejected young woman like Sara. Sara has learned about love and hate-and eventually, she learns the most important thing of all... ...forgiving the unforgivable.

Shelley's Review:

The story of Sara, filled with all the angst of a tough life, is both spellbinding and emotional.  Beginning with her birth, the very people that should be nurturing and loving her treat her as an accident and inconvenience. With the help of a loving grandma, she begins to blossom and rise above all that she has endured. You begin to cheer her on in her victories, and feel yourself tearing up during her losses and disappointments. In the end, she has become a formidable presence in the corporate world, and has achieved victory over her meager beginnings.

Diane Paley has captured the heart of the reader in this amazing story. Danielle Steel, watch out! A wonderful read.


*A physical copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.