ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Eva Marie Everson taught Old Testament theology for six years at Life Training Center in Longwood, Florida and has written numerous articles for Crosswalk.com (including the acclaimed Falling Into The Bible series), and has had articles featured in numerous publications, including Christianity Today, Evangel, Christian Bride, Christian Retailing, The Godly BusinessWoman and Marriage Partnership magazines. Eva Marie has been interviewed by radio, television, newspaper, and Internet media outlets. In 2002Eva Marie was one of six Christian journalists sent to Israel for a special ten-day press tour.Eva Marie’s work includes the award-winning titles Reflections of God's Holy Land; A Personal Journey Through Israel, Shadow of Dreams, Sex, Lies and the Media, and The Potluck Club series.
She is married, has four children and five grandchildren, and lives in Central Florida.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Every family--and every house--has its secrets. Jo-Lynn Hunter is at a crossroads in life when her great-aunt Stella insists that she return home to restore the old family manse in sleepy Cottonwood, Georgia. Jo-Lynn longs to get her teeth into a noteworthy and satisfying project. And it's the perfect excuse for some therapeutic time away from her self-absorbed husband and his snobby Atlanta friends.Beneath the dust and the peeling wallpaper, things are not what they seem, and what Jo-Lynn doesn't know about her family holds just as many surprises. Was her great-grandfather the pillar of the community she thought he was? What is Aunt Stella hiding? And will her own marriage survive the renovation? Jo-Lynn isn't sure she wants to know the truth--but sometimes the truth has a way of making itself known.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Things Left Unspoken, go HERE
REVIEW:
If you've ever wondered what it was like to be raised in the South, this is the book to read. (And I'm not talking about mint juleps on the porch or small-waisted women in frilly gowns saying, "Ah do declare!")
Cottonwood, Georgia could be one of a million small Southern town dried up because of crop failure or swallowed up by sprawling suburbia. And Everson populates her fictional town with just enough "old folks" to recall "the way it was" (to quote the dearly departed "Uncle Walter"). As Jo Lynn works to restore her aunt's home, you can almost hear the echos in the high ceilings, smell the musty closets that haven't been opened in years and see the beautiful golden grain of the heartpine floors. They say that setting is a character in some books; Cottonwood could be called one on the main characters in this one.
And then there's Jo Lynn: sacrificing all to her husband as a good Southern wife should, but losing herself in the process. But this is not a feminist, "I Am Woman" diatribe, it's more of a coming-of-age novel about a middle-aged woman. And as she uncovers the layers of dust and layers of her life, she uncovers layers of long-kept family secrets.
Read Things Left Unspoken. As the back cover quotes Ann Tatlock, " ... I didn't just read this story, I lived it!" I agree!
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