The Promises She Keeps. Erin Healy. Thomas Nelson, Inc. February 2011. 344 pp. ISBN #: 9781595547514. $14.99Promise is a dying woman with a vivid dream, to become such a great singer that her name will achieve immortality. Porta Cerreto is a witch who seeks the One who will bring immortality to all. She has traveled across America, stopping in each place to present art in various galleries and telling customers that certain pictures speak truth to the viewer that will have everlasting resonance. Is she for real or is she just a quack scheming with peoples' lives in a way that brings as much destruction and death as it does life?
Chase is an extraordinary, talented artist whose gifts are more often ignored because his autism repels rather than connects those with whom he attempts to interact. His paintings are based on the identity of the one being drawn - in a rather abstract yet natural manner - and the Biblical inspiration he is inspired to incorporate into his "white on black" drawings. Chelsea, Chase's twin sister, has sacrificed much to support Chase and Wes, Chase's helper, is inching her forward to realize a new world awaits her attention and hold.
Porta's son, Zach, is a drug addict and scorner of all that is beautiful thanks to his mother's machinations which he perceives to be pure evil.
Promise's experiences with regaining health and surviving death begin to unite every character in this tautly plotted story, leading to a climax that is devastating in literal and figurative implications for all involved.
Erin Healy's latest novel is a page-flipping foray into what we so often glibly label "good" and "evil," an examination of the consequences of so-called "love," and a journey through the layers of magic and dreams that will leave the reader thrilled, questioning, and celebrating what is!
Delightful, Erin Healy!
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