Slow Hope: The Long Journey Home

By Anita Swanson

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1571974350
• ISBN13: 9781571974358
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Ivy House Publishing Group
• Length: 250 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Slow Hope

Anita Swanson has written an amazing story of survival, persistance and faith. The way in which she describes the incidents, the scenes, the mood are imaginative and easy to place yourself beside her in each circumstance. I couldnt put the book down once I started reading. Her stories shed such good light on abuse of all kinds and how the reciever of such looses self worth, identity and dignity. The scenes in which her children and herself are victims are very graphic and spellbinding. Anita is a true survivor. I highly recommend this book.

Breaking through walls with courage.

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (12/06) Anne's family showed little affection. They were beyond stern and beyond strict. Their goal was to control her life completely. Anne had no freedom. She had a love for music and they tried to quash that. While in nursing school Anne met Bob, a married, church music director. He was 17 years her senior. He was putting together a choir to travel through Europe and asked her to go with them. He began to show her more and more attention, none of which she encouraged. When Bob declared his love for Anne, she was ecstatic, but he was still married. Once the divorce was final, things went from bad to worse. Anne's parents were once again making demands. Four years later Bob and Anne were married. "It was not a happy event." Going to the dog races would not be most couples' first choice of honeymoon activities. It doesn't take much to realize that Bob has problems. Anita Swanson is very courageous to share her story with her readers. The story is heart wrenching. Her childhood was one of abuse and that abuse did not end when she became an adult. She married a man much older than her but I'm not sure why. She was lonely and perhaps felt it was her only option. "Slow Hope" is filled with pain, deeply-hidden anger and anguish. In her own words, "Life goes on." Ms Swanson is a talented writer. Her story is well told and flows smoothly with much emotion. The cover hints at the story inside. From the moment I began reading "Slow Hope" I was hooked. It was late at night when I finished reading but I'd been compelled to read the whole book in one setting. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy reading a book about courage.

Slow Hope by Anita Swanson

If you've ever been female, you will identify with Slow Hope, the debut novel from Anita Swanson. Based on events from Swanson's life, this is a moving story of a naïve young girl named Anne who, on the verge of womanhood, seeks to escape the torments of an abusive upbring-only to find herself caught in an impossible relationship that twists and turns into an equally disturbing scenario. With Anne's world crumbling around her, she turns to the only device that has never left her nor has ever been taken away-something that is uniquely hers-her faith. This is a page turning story, deftly written with great insight and movement and an absolutely terrific first-time achievement.

Objective and Courageous

We meet the narrator of Slow Hope, Anne, when she is still a teenager. Coerced by her parents into pursuing a nursing career, Anne finds salvation when she joins the nursing school's choir. Soon, she is swept up in the world of a charismatic, conflicted choir director (Bob), seventeen years her senior and married.In her sophomore year, Anne goes on tour with the choir in Europe.The experience is exhilarating; she binds herself tighter to Bob and the life he represents. Like a walk in the woods on a sunny day, Anne' story begins conventionally, following a well-trod path; but, as she moves deeper into the forest, the sunlight slowly diminishes and her stride becomes less sure, her footing precarious. She moves deeper and deeper into the gloom, until all light is lost, the trees surround her, the sound of birds is deadened, and the vines tangling her arms and legs threaten to hold her prisoner forever. Soon she is lost, disoriented, and finding her way back seems hopeless. Fanciful? Perhaps. But Slow Hope by Anita Swanson is no ordinary novel; it is based on her own journey, her personal trials. The author's objective honesty, lucid prose, and penetrating look into Anne's marriage - and her heart - raises the bar for anyone writing about an individual's struggle with relationships, religious faith, and the specter of childhood abuse. There is no self-pity, apology, or rationalization in Anne's narrative. She admits to poor choices and self-deception, then accepts the responsibility of supporting and protecting her daughters while trying to extricate herself from a repressive marriage. In so doing, she defies her fundamentalist husband and seeks therapy, even though members of her church staunchly take her husband's side. Anne finds herself isolated, completely estranged from her already unloving, mean-spirited parents. Beset with financial woes and totally alone, Anne struggles to build a new life for herself and her daughters. Slowly, she finds her way back to security and sanity. The message of Anita Swanson's book is not how to liberate one's self from a bad marriage, or the highs and lows of therapy; rather, it is about the healing grace that comes from self-acceptance - and the sureness of our faith.