Wishing on Dandelions
by Mary E. DeMuth
From the back cover:
Maranatha needs to hear God’s voice. At seventeen, Natha admittedly has some trust issues. Though the abuse by a neighbor boy has stopped, Natha is anything but healed. Now her best friend has left for college, the trials of dating have begun, and God, ever since he spoke to her underneath the pecan tree, has remained elusive.
Wishing on Dandelions is the follow-up novel to Watching the Tree Limbs. I have not read the first book. Enough of Maranatha’s past is mentioned so the reader doesn’t necessarily need to have read the first book in order to understand the second. (Frankly, considering the subject matter and the fact that I’m the mother of two young girls, I’m not sure I could handle reading the first book! That said, however, I believe after reading this that if anyone can handle the subject of child abuse with delicacy and honesty, Mary DeMuth can.)
This story is reminiscent of Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. Yet while both books are similar in theme (young orphan girl grows up in the South, finds her own mother-figure across racial barriers, and finds out who she is), Dandelions is much heavier on God, redemption and forgiveness. I liked that very much.
I liked the way DeMuth handles Maranatha’s struggle with the past she’s endured and the person she is today. I also liked how she dealt with race, friendship, and family. Her ultimate cleansing comes about in an unexpected way, yet it is the way it needs to happen for Maranatha to finally be set free from the specter of her past.
I highly recommend this book.
Reviewed by Pattie Reitz
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