The Center of the World - Review & Giveaway
Review by Marlene Engel
What would you do if you received a letter stating that the life you knew was all a lie? For fifteen year old Sofia, who was born in Mexico and adopted at a young age by her mother Kate, it happened after the passing of her stepfather, Martin.
Martin was also adopted and learned the truth of his birth parents only when his mother was on her death bed. Knowing the pain it caused him, he vowed that as long as he was alive, he would keep the secret that Kate was hiding. But instead chose to write a letter outlining the events of her past, that were unknown to most, and give it to his attorney to deliver upon his passing. A past that included her real birthplace of Guatemala and the extreme measures Kate took to give this child the life she deserved and Kate the child she desperately desired.
Upon learning the truth, Sofia�s trust in Kate is broken. Kate knows that she must bring Sofia to the place she was born, the place where violence ran high, the place where Kate found love in such devastation. Until Sofia learns the truth of her past, she won�t be able to understand the sacrifice and impossible decisions Kate made in smuggling her into the country. But is it too late to undo the damage and move forward? And will Kate be forced to return Sofia to her place of birth now that her secret has been revealed?
In a moving and heart-wrenching book about love, heroism and the measures one will go to for the sake of a child, the author gives us a first-hand perspective of a war-torn country and the lives effected. I found myself emotionally involved in the story, crying one minute and rooting for the characters another. This was my first novel by Jacqueline Sheehan, but certainly won�t be the last.
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About the Author:
Jacqueline Sheehan, Ph.D., is a fiction writer and essayist. She is also a psychologist. She is a New Englander through and through, but spent twenty years living in the western states of Oregon, California, and New Mexico doing a variety of things, including house painting, freelance photography, newspaper writing, clerking in a health food store, and directing a traveling troupe of high school puppeteers.
Jacqueline teaches workshops at Grub Street in Boston and Writers in Progress in Florence, Massachusetts.
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The Center of the World by Jacqueline Sheehan
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