A Hope Undaunted

By Julie Lessman
If you have ever read a book by Julie Lessman than you know that she is the cause of a firestorm of criticism by various people of her books, which are controversial. While her books are very Christian she is not afraid to add a bit of "passion" to her stories which is likely to cause some heads to turn. I read "A Passion Most Pure" which is about the oldest sister of the main character in this book, Katie O'Connor. I would strongly recommend that you read at least that book first to get the "back story" on this one. There are two books in between which I have not read. This book is the first book in a new series about the other O'Connor children. I was not very favorably impressed with the first book but I find this one to be surprisingly good.
Katie is a cool character although she is very spoiled and immature. She is spunky and funny with a lot of pep. Her biggest dream is to become a lawyer which is a big deal in 1929. She has a rich, good looking boyfriend and life seems just fine until disaster strikes. Well, not really but she thinks it is the end of the world, her Father forbids her to see her boyfriend for the summer and makes her volunteer at an orphanage.
To add insult to injury her boss is none other than Luke McGee, her old childhood Nemesis. He is tall,good looking and a Christian, something Katie is not.
This story is much sadder than than the first book in the previous series which involved many of the same characters and I respect these characters much more. Luke is a great guy and in the pursuit of duty does some things that not many men today would do. His friend Parker is really a great guy and I felt sorry for him even though I felt that it was the best thing for him.
The characters in this story are Catholic which may bother some but I must admit that they sound more Protestant to me. I would probably not recommend this book to a younger than junior high kid, but then this book is 500 pages, so I don't think many kids would be reading this anyway.
Reviewed by Elizabeth