Miriam is just one of those girls that grabs your heart and doesn’t let go. At least, that’s what Jacob has always thought, and he ought to know – he’s been in love with her since he was eight years old. She’s tried to make it clear that she can never care for him that way, but that doesn’t keep him from trying, even if it means being her accomplice as she steals a movie poster from the glass case in front of the movie theater.
The year is 1936, and Miriam has decided that she’s going to be an actress. It doesn’t matter that she’s only fifteen – she’s going to go to Hollywood and be a star. She’s sure she can get Jacob to go with her. He’d do anything for her, and if she promises to marry him, maybe he’d help her get to California. But he surprises her by telling her no. She’s too young to get married and she can’t expect him to leave his family. Besides, he knows she doesn’t really love him, and she can’t deny that.
Fine, she’ll just have to go herself. She steals some money from the till of her father’s pharmacy and hits the road, only to find herself tracked down and arrested the next night by police officer Del Tucker, who lectured her all the way back home. She never would admit it, but she was sure glad to see him.
Fast forward into the future, and we find that Miriam has married Del. It would seem that she made quite the impact on him and after a few years matured her a bit, he looked her up and they became a couple. Eleven years of marriage went by, with the war intervening to keep them apart for a time, and the loss of Miriam’s brother and mother to try them, but they are just as in love as ever, with only one thing to shadow their lives: they don’t seem to be able to have children.
Many twists and turns arise in Miriam’s life. Nothing, it would seem, turns out the way she plans. But through it all, she is constantly reminded that God is there, no matter what.
I did have one gripe about this book, however. Throughout most of the story, the author keeps a good balance between plot and preaching, using Christ naturally and not in a contrived way, but the last eighth of the book or so, I felt like we lost all plot and went into straight doctrine. There’s nothing wrong with doctrine, certainly; I’m a Christian and I believe in that doctrine, but when you’re writing about it in a fiction novel, the plot needs to be the vehicle for that doctrine. I guess it’s just me being persnickety, but there you have it.
Nonetheless, it was a deeply moving story of love and faith by author Robin Lee Hatcher. You’ll enjoy this story that winds through time.
(This book was published in 2001 by Tyndale.)
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