Author: Lynn Austin
All She Ever Wanted starts out with a woman who is estranged from her family, father, siblings wants nothing to do with them. She has a rocky relationship with her teen daughter. Her husband and her had this child at a late age and are quite well to do, however the daughter is arrested for shoplifting a lipstick, this upsets mom terribly because of her background and the history her father and brothers had with stealing. she is invited to a welcome home party for her dad, he was being released from prison after serving 35 years for murdering her mother. she has thrown the invitation away because she wants nothing to do with them., Mom wants a better relationship with her daughter because she did not have one with her mother but it just is not happening.
The daughter finds the invitation in the trash, throws it in her mothers face and accuses her of not socializing with her family, how does she expect to have a good relationship with her. Mom gets fired from her job, they seek a counselor for the daughter because of the recent shoplifting incident and through this the counselor helps mom to take a better look at herself. Being unemployed gives daughter and mom more time together with not good results, however the daughter challenges mom to go home for party and she goes with her.. this is where the story takes off. Ms Austin is a fantastic story teller and entices you into not putting this novel down, She combines the story with christian ethics which keeps you thinking about your life.
Through the trip to visit her relatives, mom and daughter are talking, they end up visiting the old neighborhood . They visit a woman who mom was friends with her daughter and then she explains to kathy and joelle about Kathleen’s mother. they had been friends, a new light is shed on why her mother was the way she was. The saga continues when they meet up with the uncle and he tells them about kathleens grandmother, Then Kathleen’s dad gets out of prison and they find him a new man with new christian ethics and the family including mom and daughter relationship is healed. what a marvelous story, I am sure I did not do it justice, however it left a lasting impression on me to remember that we should let our sins teach us to forgive. My hat off to the author! It truly was a wonderful piece of art!
Reviewed by Donna Swanger
chbookshelf April 12, 2006
Kathleen Seymour fled her childhood home thirty-five years ago, vowing to start over. She feels the FBI needs to take lessons from her on providing new identities, after all, she is an expert at running away and starting over somewhere else when the going gets tough.
Now, her fifteen-year-old daughter, Joelle, has been arrested for shop-lifting. Since it is her first offense, Kathleen talks the authorities into going easy on her, but it seems to have the opposite effect. Joelle seems to think that since she wasn’t arrested, it was no big deal and that Kathleen is just over-reacting. Joelle’s solution is to run away. Before Joelle gets out the door though, her father, Mike comes home and talks her out of leaving and into getting counseling.
To finish off a perfect day, Kathleen is fired from her job and has been invited to her sister’s home for a party honoring their father. An invitation that Kathleen is determined to ignore, tossing it straight into the garbage.
But that invitation refuses to stay put! When Joelle goes to counseling, the doctor insists on talking to Kathleen too. And soon her past is rearing its ugly head. When Joelle waves the invitation in Kathleen’s face in front of the doctor, Kathleen has no choice but to go . . . but is she ready to face the past?
ALL SHE EVER WANTED is an intense story. It isn’t the sort of story one reads to escape, but it is, never-the-less, well-written and an engaging tale. I couldn’t exactly relate to Kathleen, not having grown up in the type of home she grew up in, but I still felt for her and hoped she’d be able to make peace with her family and find closure.
Kathleen and Mike are trying to have a Christian home, but the past is making it Kathleen’s testimony anything but the way she hopes. I could understand how Joelle would react the way she did to her mother, and I hoped their relationship could be mended. Pick up a copy of ALL SHE EVER WANTED for a story that will make you think.
Reviewed by Laura Hilton