Wandering Hearts

by: Donna J. Grisanti

Published by: Phoenix Publishing Corp.

Reviewed By Michele E. Davis

This is a well-written cross between chic lit and a Christian historical novel. A must-read for the history of a group of people who band together for better or worse, even though they aren't tethered by familial relations.

This epic novel centers on Raine Foster, who loses her parents and grandmother during the early 1940s, somewhere in the Southwest, where apples can grow, but it still rains and snows occasionally. We never really know where the characters are in the scheme of the States, but that is the only distraction in the novel. Raine Foster takes in her two cousins whom her grandmother agreed to take when their parents died. To avoid an unpleasant marriage to a money-hoarding drunk, 18-year-old Raine Foster and her two younger cousins plan their death and disappear to a town miles from where they were.

On the hobo path they run into Touhy, a gentleman who takes them under his wing. When he realizes he's getting to close to Raine, he disappears, but comes right back to check on her and the children. He finally gets them established, pretending to be all related as cousins, working on an apple farm with China Joe. He's a Chinese man who never was given the chance to tell anyone his real name. They thrive there as workers. But when Pearl Harbor is attacked, the townspeople react to China Joe's Asian ancestry with anger and fire. Thankfully, not much is burned and the story of Touhy and the Foster's lie of being cousins is protected.

Touhy enlists for the fight of his life, leaving Raine to marry Chen Yoa Goa, who is actually in love with the town's wealthiest daughter, Mayleen Walters. Raine encourages the relationship between her husband and Walters, even though Raine suffers with the fact that she loves Touhy and gets no physical intimacy with Chen. Along with the Fosters and Walters are the O. Martins, a black couple who have served the Walters for years. Through drama, death, pregnancy and hidden agendas, the apple farm thrives and all turns out well when Walters dies, as does her brother Arlen.

Armchair Interviews says: This is an amazing book of courage and tenacity.