The Prayer Box

About The Book:  "These things I do this melody of an ordinary day, keeps the hours in order....  Strange to think of that.  The song of an ordinary life.  Mine would be in these letters to you.  When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in Iola's rental cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out Iola's rambling Victorian house.  Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola's walls, but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully written prayer boxes, one for each year, spanning from Iola's youth to her last days.  Hidden in the boxes is the story of a lifetime, written on random bits of paper-the hopes and wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex woman passing through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life filled with lessons in faith, observations on love, and one final lesson that could change everything." 

About The Author:  Lisa Wingate is an award-winning journalist, magazine columnist, popular inspirational speaker and a national bestselling author of 16 books.  Her first mainstream novel, Tending Roses, is in its fifteenth printing from Penguin Putnam.  Tending Roses is a staple on the shelves of national bookstore chains as well as in many independent bookstores. Recently, Lisa’s Blue Sky Hill Series, set in Dallas, received national attention with back-to-back nominations for American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award for A Month of Summer (2009) and The Summer Kitchen (2010). In 2011, Lisa's Novel, Never Say Never, won the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award.  Pithy, emotional, and inspirational, her stories bring to life characters so real that readers often write to ask what is happening to them after the book ends. Lisa is one of a select group of authors to find success in both the Christian and mainstream markets, writing for both Bethany House, a Christian publisher, and NAL Penguin Putnam, in mainstream fiction.  Her bestselling books have become a hallmark of inspirational southern fiction. Her works have been featured by the National Reader's Club of America, AOL Book Picks, Doubleday Book Club, the Literary Guild, American Profiles and have been chosen for numerous awards.  When not busy dreaming up stories, Lisa spends time on the road as a motivational speaker. Via internet, she shares with readers as far away as India, where her book, Tending Roses, has been used to promote women's literacy, and as close to home as Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the county library system has used Tending Roses to help volunteer mentors teach adults to read.  Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others, as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life.
My Thoughts On The Book:  Lisa Wingate is one of the most talented writers today.  I am a huge fan of stories of the South and my favorite ones involve the Outer Banks and the Low Country.  There is something about the characters who live in this area that draws me in to the story and The Prayer Box is a must read.  From the first page to the last I was drawn to the people and the place and could not put it down.   The characters are very  real and their struggles and successes are truly inspiring. I have read a few of Lisa Wingate's books and have to admit that this is one of my favorites. 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale Fiction Publishing Company  as part of their blogging review program in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.  Thanks guys for allowing me to review this book.  LOVE IT!