Review: Restored Hope by Brenda Youngerman

Restored Hope

Author: Brenda Youngerman

Publisher: Strategic Book Group

Series: N/A

Pages: 264

Genre: Fiction

Release Date: September 7, 2010

How Received: Author (thank you so much, Brenda!)

Summary: Peter and Tara Miller are the image of perfection. They have three beautiful children, live in a wonderful neighborhood, and are still each other’s best friend. When their world completely disintegrates within a short period of time, their daughter must survive the aftermath. Creating a new persona, Samantha finally breaks free and discovers that the real world is not much kinder than her dysfunctional family. Emotionally shattered, the solace of the ocean, and a loving dog, carry her on her way.

Samantha meets Timothy Bleak, who was raised in a seemingly kind, loving family, but is virtually invisible to them. His voice goes unheard, his needs are unmet, and his emotions are squashed. Timothy summons the strength to leave his family, and discovers Samantha in his journey.

Restored Hope follows these two bereft young people as their lives intertwine and they face the challenges of life, love and happiness together.

My Thoughts:

Restored Hope is one of those novels that you have to put down after you read and re-evaluate the way you see the things around you. Brenda isn’t afraid to write about the social issues that no one else wants to embark on and this novel is no exception.

This story is about a dysfunctional family that keeps up the appearance of happiness while inevitably descending into guilt and self-blame. Throughout the book, we read about the chronicles of Samantha, who previously was Camilla, Sammy’s twin. Samantha goes through life as if she’s invisible – as if she was her dead twin brother’s shadow. No one remembered her, not when they were all self-absorbed into their despair. We watch as Sam struggles through the loss of her family and best friend, and as she attempts relationships that fall into ruin.

It was easy to empathize and connect with her – from everyone leaving in her life ever since she was a kid, to being invisible, to trying to rebuild that trust she lost. There are so many ways Sam could have handled her situation, yet she did it in the best way possible: pick up with her life and try to move on. She got help from Tim, naturally, but she got to where she was the day she met Tim on her own. Instead of following in the footsteps of her mother, Camilla “died” and Sam emerged, going on to live her life. When she eventually had kids of her own, she learned from her experiences and made sure none of her children (or nieces/nephews) ever felt unloved. She changed all of their futures because she learned the hard way how it feels like to be dealt a bad hand.

This novel is full of tragedy around every corner, but it’s all believable: the downward spiral of a seemingly happy family could be happening right next door to you, and you’d never know. But through all the tragedy emerges hope. Hope that one day, everything will be okay and the grievances of the past will just be memories.

Cover Musings: I absolutely adore the sunset scene. The sunset peaking behind the clouds, the receding waves, the door – it’s all very peaceful.

Memorable Quotes:

Restored Hope was a mecca of quotes – you guys should have seen my quotes notepad. There were “love”, “inspirational”, “depressing”, “humor”, “memorable”, and “heart-breaking” quotes. I had a hard time choosing which quotes I wanted to express the novel with.

“Sometimes we just have to believe that all things happen for a reason.” (not an actual book quote, but a quote from the dedication)

“Dragging her bags into the familiar bedroom she’d spent so many hours in, she looked at the pictures that adorned the walls. There were pictures of a happy family; a family that ceased to exist when her two brothers died. No one thought about the child who still remained; they were too busy mourning the children who were gone.” (pg. 80)

"I drove up in front, saw the white picket fence, walked up the path, and then took one step inside the front door, and I just knew I had finally found home. It was the first time in my life that I was home." She looked at him and their eyes locked, "Does that make sense?"
His heart was racing as he answered, "Oh, yeah, it makes perfect sense." To himself, he thought, That’s how I felt the first time I saw you. (pg. 129)

"I really don’t know why I’m telling you all of this; I’ve never told anyone this whole story before."
Tim smiled and said, "Maybe you’re telling me so you can leave the past behind you and we can move forward together." (pg. 133)

"Before my grandmother died, we used to have my aunts and uncles and all the cousins come over here for Thanksgiving. That was also before everyone had their own kids. Even then, I felt like the odd man out. I was younger than everyone else and I didn’t really have anything to talk to them about. I used to go outside and climb a tree and see how long it would take before someone would come looking for me. You want to hear the saddest part about it?"
"Yes."
"They never did." (pg. 160)

Overall Thoughts/Final Comments: There were times when I had to put the book down and cry – for Camilla, for Sam, for all of the families, for myself. I was so wrapped up in the story that I felt everyone’s pain, because it was so easy to connect in some way or other to several different characters. I picked this book up at night, only expecting to read through the first chapter. The next thing I knew, I was halfway through the book. This story is beyond moving and engaging, and it gave me hope for the future.

Brenda always comments in interviews that she writes “fiction with a purpose”. Well, Restored Hope is the epitome of fiction with a purpose, and I definitely recommend you guys go out and get this book!

Rating: 5/5