Song of Renewal

By Emily Sue Harvey

Book Overview

Song of Renewal received glowing acclaim upon its hardcover release. Now, Emily Sue Harvey has dramatically expanded this extraordinarily touching work to allow us to experience its riches at new levels.The Wakefields seem to have everything. Garrison is a hugely successful graphic artist. Liza is an active member of the community and a patron of the arts. Their 16-year-old daughter Angel is bright, beautiful, and a gifted dancer. At the same time, though, they have traded away many of their dreams. Garrison gave up a future as an accomplished painter to make money. Liza suspended her own dancing career to raise a family. And Angel is setting aside her ambitions to live her mother's dream.When Angel gets into a car accident that kills her first love, the Wakefields' lives turn on a dime. While Angel lies in a coma from which even the best prognosis is devastating, Garrison and Liza sit by her side, their once-passionate marriage in tatters. As their heartache over Angel builds, Garrison and Liza struggle to rediscover who they once were--and who they were meant to be. They come to realize that it will take everything they have within themselves to heal Angel, heal their hearts, and renew the power of their love.At once romantic, inspiring, and empowering, Song of Renewal is a rare bauble of a novel, one with something to say to every family.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1611880025
• ISBN13: 9781611880021
• Release Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Story Plant
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Forgiveness

Emily Sue's novel captures the attention of folks who have decades-long marriages and understand the bouts of guilt and forgiveness, the ups and downs of romance, and survival of tragedies encountered as the anniversaries tick off. The story revolves around a couple whose daughter has suffered a catastrophic accident. The author is skilled at portraying the manipulative nature of teens and how they can pit husband against wife to get their way by tweaking words and stretching the truth. The beginning chapters take you on this roller coaster of emotion as you wonder if the couple can survive the bad hand dealt them. You will read the book quickly but its message will resonate with you for weeks. Give it a gander. -- Erika Hoffman ( non-fiction writer, featured in inspirational anthologies)

Beautiful, Breezy Read

I read this book on the plane to England and was so happy I popped it in my bag at the last minute. Harvey has a wonderful way with dialog and tells a good story that keeps your interest. A marriage starting to rip at the seams, a daughter in a terrible accident and finally a family finding it's way back to each other. I thought about each character long after the book was over (always the sign of a great read) and hope that more novels come from this author in the future. Would make a great Mom or girlfriend gift!

A satisfying page-turner

If realistic (with a three-hanky happy ending that even a cynic has to love) fiction about marriage troubles and people dealng with lost dreams is your cup of green tea/chai, then you'll love SONG OF RENEWAL. Characterization and BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY-esque riffs on art and ballet (but dealing with marriage in a positive way) are the stars of Emily Sue Harvey's deceptively slim novel. Don't be fooled by its small size -- it packs an emotional punch. Every parent's nightmare becomes the inciting incident that sets the conflict between estranged husband and wife Garrison and Liza Wakefield ablaze. A hasty decision born out of marital tensions results in a seemingly hopeless tragedy. Garrison's reaction to his daughter Angel's car accident, which puts her into a coma, is entirely real, as is Liza's emotional odyssey. Dance is an appropirate metaphor here, since Liza and Garrison do the dance of alinetaed hearts reconnecting under the most impossible circumstances, particularly when they learn a deadly secret and are forced to face hard truths about themselves and their family. Painting is also fitting as a metaphor, since Emily Sue Harvey paints picures of deep emotional realities, and makes us feel that the Wakefield family could be our family, too. Angel is a fascinating breakout star of this novel as the reluctant teenage ballerina-turned-trauma victim, and she comes across as intelligent, sensitive, and believable. Refreshingly, Harvey portrays Angel's first romance as one of commitment and genuine caring. The secondary characters, such as Liza's sparkplug sister Charlcy and Troy, Angel's boyfriend, are well-drawn...and then there's Scrounger, the guardian angel dog of the book. Prepare to be uplifted...and yes, renwewed.

Prose That Mirrors Poetry

Clean for the entire family to read, this beautiful story of compassion, forgiveness, and acceptance, will pull at your heartstrings. The book is well edited, and the author shows an impeccable choice of words. I presume there's too much time dedicated to the rift between Garrison and his wife Liza, and considerably less to Angel's intimate relationship with her parents. For example; I find it hard to believe that a teenage girl did not consult the organ donor issue with her mom and dad. Also how can an experienced ballerina like Liza did not detect symptoms of anorexia in her daughter, when this disease aftects well over fifty percent of female ballet dancers these days. The novel conveys a message to parents who are bent on living their personal dreams at the expense of their offspring, thus creating unnecessary stress and anxiety in innocent children. It also shows how lack of communication between husband and wife can send a marriage down the gutter when chips are down. The author has skilfully made these messages evident without being preachy. Although relatively small in size, "Song of Renewal" is a giant in its own genre. Highly recommended. Andrew J. Rodriguez Award-winning author: "Adios, Havana," a Memoir

COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! MUST READ!!

For the review that mentioned cliches, I will have to say that every story has already been written in this day and age. The plots are just rearranged. Ultimately the novels we read are about people, relationships and how they interact and engage us. So cliches? I do not agree. Emily Sue Harvey drew me in to her characters immediately and did not let go until I had turned the last page. Her writing is unbelievably beautiful and poignant. It is a story that any adult that can relate to and find encouragement that there is the over-comer in each of us if we just look for it. I wish I had read this book before I got divorced. I think it would have given me the incentive to work through the issues of the everyday marriage. I am not the avid church goer but found the faith aspects of this book enlightening. EVERYONE MUST READ THIS BOOK. I CAN'T WAIT FOR HER NEXT BOOK.