Review: Daughters for a Time by Jennifer Handford

Daughters for a Time by Jennifer Handford

Publisher: Amazon Publishing

Pages: 302

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Feelings of abandonment fill Helen Francis at a too-young age when her mother dies and her father walks out. Left in the care of her older sister, Claire, she moves on but never truly heals. Now thirty-five and married, Helen is desperate to start a family of her own. After four unsuccessful years of trying to become pregnant, Helen accepts the idea of adoption. 


When her baby is finally in her arms, Helen experiences true exaltation. But she is quickly blindsided with the worst possible news: Claire has cancer. Helen's wounds are again torn open as she balances the bliss of a new daughter with the grief of a dying sister.





Kritters Thoughts:  A book that tugs at your heart strings and makes you realize how unlucky life can be.  Helen, the younger sister of two, who loses her mom in the middle of her teenage years is forced to live with her older college sister as their father has left at the same time that their mother succumbs to cancer.  With major trust and "leaving" issues, Helen is having a hard time accepting her infertility issues and the lucky woman who has a husband to stand and support her through it all.


I was instantly grabbed by the character of Helen and just wanted to know where her story was going to go and where it would end up.  I ached with her, but I wasn't overwhelmed by her grief, it was a perfect balance.  Although the story was full of trials and problems to overcome, I was left with a sense that the author handled her struggles with some reality - this I completely enjoyed.  


A fiction book that many a reader would enjoy, although there may be a few tears to shed in the process of reading it.  

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel


April-June Challenge 2012: Keep it in the Family


Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Little Bird Publicity.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.