INSPYS Review: Words - Ginny Yttrup

Publisher:  B & H Books

Pages:  352

Source: I purchased  to review for INSPY

Genre:  Adult, Christian Realistic Fiction, Sexual Abuse

This was such a powerful book.  Kaylee Wren is a young  ten year old girl abandoned by her mother.  She is left with her mother’s boyfriend.  When the mother doesn’t return the boyfriend burns all of  the mother’s possessions and most of Kaylee’s things.  She is left there for him to do with as he pleases, and he does.

Kaylee clings to a dictionary and two other books left by her mother.  Two books “he” doesn’t know she has.  She has stopped talking.  She keeps her words in her head.  This is the one place he can not find them and take them away.  She is a survivor.  As I read I wondered how she was still alive.  She was hungry and dirty.   She holds out hope that her mother will come back for her.  She even tells her self that her mother has amnesia.  This is how she deals with the situation.

The imagery and use of metaphors is wonderful.  The author uses the redwood tree and its resilience to explain how Kaylee is a survivor.  In the story, when Kaylee can steal away from the cabin, she hides in the base of a redwood tree.  She keeps those things she holds most dear in that tree.   It is here that Sierra, an artist, finds her.  The meeting of these two is not by chance.  Sierra is dealing with the anniversary of her own daughter’s death.  Twelve years earlier she had given birth to a daughter who lived only nine days.  Drugs she took while pregnant was the root cause of her daughter’s death.  Sierra has been running from the pain and from God for a long time.  With Sierra’s painful past, and Kaylee’s current pain, only God could bring two dysfunctional people together to show how God can heal.  Kaylee uses words to protect her and help her heal.  Seirra dives into her art.  She talked about building layer upon layer, yet after Kaylee entered her life she begins to peel away layer after layer of her past.

It is proof that a person must deal with the past instead of holding it in, if they are to ever begin the healing process.  Forgiveness must be given for complete healing.  We see both Kaylee and Sierra dealing with their past.  We also see that they have learned that dealing with their past through God’s helping love is so much easier. 

This is a book I highly recommend.  Don’t let the topic of sexual abuse scare you away.  The messages of hope, forgiveness, redemption and love are more than enough to combat the scary topic.  This powerful book will take you on a rollercoaster ride you will not soon forget.

Meet the Author:  Ginny dreamt of becoming a writer most of her adult life and pursued her dream by learning the craft and honing her skills. Her debut novel, Words, is the fulfillment of that dream.

Ginny is a mother, friend, writer, life and writing coach, dog lover, and gourmet cook wanna-be.

Visit her at her websites: www.ginnyyttrup.com or www.crossingscoaching.com.