Book Review: Looking for Cassandra Jane

Melody Carlson is one of those tried-and-true authors that Christian publishing companies go with time and time again because they know she will deliver a story that readers will gobble up. She has written over 200 books and sold over 6.5 million. She certainly knows how to weave a good story. Her tale about Cassandra Jane gives a glimpse into the heart of a character who is wounded and broken and definitely in need of a Savior. As Liz Curtis Higgs (author of Thorn in my Heart and A Wreath of Snow) writes in her endorsement: "Cassandra Jane's first-person narrative reads like an intimate diary, allowing us to share in this troubled young woman's long and winding road toward the one true God."

Cassandra Jane is one tough cookie. She has to be. Her mother died days after her birth, her father is an abusive alcoholic, and her temporary safe haven at her grandmother's house evaporates with her grandmother's death. When authorities imprison her father for two attempts on her life, it brings little consolation because she is farmed out to foster homes. Desperate for love, she is easily swayed and led astray, down a path of counterfeit Christianity. God continues to woo her in the midst of her confusion.

I thought her grandmother's repeated colloquialisms felt intrusive and annoying, but the story did hold my interest throughout. I will admit, I was hoping it would have been more of a comparable title to use in pitching my women's inspirational novel. Alas, it was a very different type of story. Still, if you are looking for engaging Christian fiction, Carlson is an author you can trust.