Stories That Bind Us

by Susie Finkbeiner

Dakota County Library paperback 367 pages

Published: 2020

Genre: Christian historical fiction

I really like this author! This book was more relational and emotional than her Vietnam war book, but the characters were beautifully written. Betty Sweet loses her beloved husband Norm at the age of 40 and is thrown for a loop. Then her estranged sister shows up with her young son and life's big questions grow even larger. We had a delightful conversation at book club and I'm going to get Finkbeiner's other books when my reading pile shrinks a bit.

Page 88 - When she is reflecting on the murder of Medgar Evers and the reporter says of his children that they "were left unharmed," she contemplates the meaning of "unharmed." 

"But I thought of the Evers children, maybe at that very moment getting ready for bed - the first night without their father - the shots of the sniper still booming in their ears and the cries of their father too.

Unharmed, the reporter had claimed.

Unharmed.

I wondered if I'd ever think of that word the same way again."

 

 Page 119 - This line just made me smile because of my own love of coffee.

"I'd managed to get a few cups of coffee into her too. It was amazing what miracles a little joe could do for a person."

Page 157 - I loved when Betty and Hugo were touring the castle in Owosso that she decided that the man who had given dark-skinned Hugo the stink eye and was following them closely wasn't worth worrying about.

"My temptation was to leave right away to not make the man uncomfortable. But when, at each new corner or photograph or bookcase, Hugo stopped and asked me to read the plaques or to notice something he found wonderful, I decided the man's discomfort wasn't my concern. I decided that the man would just have to buck up and deal with it."

Page 215 - Betty is encouraging her brother-in-law Albie. We need more encouragement and goodness in this world!

"Albie, don't you think that when you do something that makes the world a better place that it's worth pursuing? . . . When you make a delicous pie or say hi to someone on the street, it's good. Every time you drive past my house to check on me, it's good. Even if you always find me at my least dignified state."

Page 235 - Betty to Hugo after tucking him into bed:  

"'Don't let the scary things of the world keep you from seeing the good,' I whispered, as much to myself as to him. 'Even the darkest night can't put out all the light.'"

Page 261 - The photo album her dad saved and the picture of her on an elephant. This memory / scene really got me!

"I was forty years old and finally realizing the love of my mother."

Page 296 - So interesting that Betty had changed the end of the story to have a "happy ever after" ending and Clara rejected it as a child. She wanted the bittersweet ending that their mother had told them. As she tells the story the way her mother had and the way Clara wanted to hear it, she realizes how it strengthens Clara.

"And in that smile I saw the little girl who beat the rooster and the one who refused to let the men cut down her favorite tree. I saw my sister. And she was beautiful."

There were so many wonderful things about this book that I'm not relating well. I love how Nick and Dick welcomed and protected Hugo. I loved the stories - some made up, some from the Bible, and some about Betty's and Clara's childhoods. I loved the Sweet family and the loving relationships. Clara's mental health battle was realistic and scary. I'm excited to read more of this author's work!

Things I need to Google and/or go to Michigan to see!!!:

• The castle in Owosso (pg. 157)
• Belle Isle - in the Detroit River (pg. 255)