a review of TWO HEARTS: AN ADOPTEE'S JOURNEY THROUGH GRIEF TO GRATITUDE by Linda Hoye

Linda Hoye, author of the book TWO HEARTS: AN ADOPTEE'S JOURNEY THROUGH GRIEF TO GRATITUDE, grew up in Saskatchewan. She doesn't live there anymore but calls the province "the home of my heart." She says, "I've spent more years away from it than I did living there, but it's as much a part of me as it ever was. It is my motherland; it is in my DNA."

That's how I feel. My love of Saskatchewan comes through in my 1940s-era Mennonite novel CONSIDER THE SUNFLOWERS. So do my connections with my Mennonite parents and other relatives.

 

Linda Hoye's mother was a Mennonite but Linda spent many years not knowing this or anything else about her birth parents and other "blood" relatives. She was given up for adoption at a time when the process was shrouded in secrecy. Some adoptees don't seem to mind not knowing their backgrounds. However, Linda did. She struggled with identity issues and the sense that she was somehow unworthy of love and acceptance. Her book has much to say to anyone who grapples with such feelings. Don't we all at some times in our lives?

 

TWO HEARTS resonated with me in several ways. After a number of years, Linda came to faith in Christ, a faith I share. She lived in Kamloops for some years. That's where I live now.

 

Thankfully, after searching for some time, Linda found her birth parents and other relatives. However, finding them wasn't the final answer to her struggles. Slowly, through a long journey and many complex relationships, she gained a measure of peace. I'm glad I could share her journey through reading this book.

 

Paperback: 232 pages, Publisher: Benson Books (May 8, 2012), ISBN-10: 061560675X, ISBN-13: 978-0615606750

 

 

 

 

Elma (Martens) Schemenauer http://elmams.wix.com/elma . CONSIDER THE SUNFLOWERS: 1940s-era novel about love, Mennonites, faith, & family. Set in Vancouver & rural Saskatchewan. Order from Chapters online http://tinyurl.com/ny8smwk or Borealis Press http://tinyurl.com/lfdo9pf  . More info at http://elmams.wix.com/sflwrs  . Book trailer https://youtu.be/sBRuhh1xX7Y .