{"id":262,"date":"2008-07-23T10:08:25","date_gmt":"2008-07-23T15:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/\/?p=262"},"modified":"2008-07-23T10:08:25","modified_gmt":"2008-07-23T15:08:25","slug":"painted-dresses-by-patricia-hickman-cfba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=262","title":{"rendered":"Painted Dresses by Patricia Hickman – CFBA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

This week, the<\/span>
\nChristian Fiction Blog Alliance<\/span><\/a><\/strong>
\nis introducing<\/span><\/strong>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

Painted Dresses<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

(WaterBrook Press – July 15, 2008)
\nby<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patricia Hickman<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Patricia Hickman is an award-winning author of fiction and non-fiction, whose work has been praised by critics and readers alike.<\/p>\n

Patricia Hickman began writing many years ago after an invitation to join a writer’s critique group. It was headed up by best-selling author Dr. Gilbert Morris, a pioneer in Christian fiction who has written many best selling titles. The group eventually came to be called the “Nubbing Chits”. All four members of the original “Chits” have gone on to become award-winning and best selling novelists (good fruit, Gil!).<\/p>\n

Patty signed her first multi-book contract with Bethany House Publishers. After she wrote several novels “for the market”, she assessed her writer’s life and decided she would follow the leanings of her heart. She says, “It had to be God leading me into the next work which wound up being my first break-out book, Katrina’s Wings. I had never read a southern mainstream novel, yet I knew that one lived in my head, begging to be brought out and developed.” She wanted to create deeper stories that broke away from convention and formula. From her own journey in life, she created a world based upon her hometown in the 70’s, including Earthly Vows<\/a> and Whisper Town<\/a> from the Millwood Hollow Series.<\/p>\n

Patty and her husband, Randy, have planted two churches in North Carolina. Her husband pastors Family Christian Center, located in Huntersville. The Hickmans have three children, two on earth and one in heaven. Their daughter, Jessi, was involved in a fatal automobile accident in 2001. Through her writing and speaking, Patty seeks to offer help, hope and encouragement to those who walk the daily road of loss and grief.<\/p>\n

ABOUT THE BOOK:<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>In this story of sisterhood and unexpected paths, Gaylen Syler-Boatwright flees her unraveling marriage to take refuge in a mountain cottage owned by her deceased aunt. Burdened with looking after her adult sister, Delia, she is shocked to find a trail of family secrets hidden within her aunt\u2019s odd collection of framed, painted dresses. With Delia, who attracts trouble as a daily occupation, Gaylen embarks on a road trip that throws the unlikely pair together on a journey to painful understanding and delightful revelations.<\/p>\n

Steeped in Hickman\u2019s trademark humor, her spare writing voice, and the bittersweet pathos of the South, Painted Dresses powerfully captures a woman\u2019s desperate longing to uncover a hidden, broken life and discover the liberty of living authentically, even when the things exposed are shrouded in shame.<\/p>\n

If you would like to read the first chapter, go HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

MY REVIEW:<\/h3>\n

Painted Dresses<\/a> is one of those books that produces mixed feelings. For the most part I enjoyed the southern ambiance and humor that permeated the story. As a lifelong southerner, I guess I could relate. The sense of family love and loyalty was strong. I did have trouble understanding Gaylen’s determination to protect Delia from the results of her own actions at any cost. It seemed to me that it was time for her family to force Delia to grow up by no longer enabling her. As the story progressed, I was able to gain some comprehension of the hidden trauma that controlled their interaction with others.<\/p>\n

To me, Painted Dresses<\/a> illustrates the damage done when well-meaning parents try to protect their children by hiding the truth. As other reviewers have mentioned, it is not always an easy read. The reader will probably not quickly or easily relate to the characters who are obviously warped by their past. I do believe that Painted Dresses<\/a> does have a message of redemption as the secrets are slowly revealed and Gaylen begins to come to terms with her demons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Painted Dresses (WaterBrook Press – July 15, 2008) by Patricia Hickman ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Patricia Hickman is an award-winning author of fiction and non-fiction, whose work has been praised by critics and readers alike. Patricia Hickman began writing many years ago after an invitation to join […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions\/265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}