The Red Journal by Deb Elkink

ABOUT THE BOOK

Flirty globetrotter Sybil badgers her friend Libby to travel along in seeking out the world’s “sacred places”—a monastery in Japan, a mountaintop in Africa, a mosque in Istanbul. Her footloose wandering far from family values costs her more than money.

But Libby can’t afford to travel, and she’s plagued by a different kind of restlessness. Grieving the recent death of the grandmother who raised her in their inner-city Minneapolis tenement now slated for demolition, Libby faces homelessness in both heart and habitation.

When Libby discovers a cryptic message from beyond the grave and an antique ring pointing to a mystery in an inner room of a mansion museum in North Dakota, she sets out on a quest of her own for the meaning of heritage and home.

MY THOUGHTS.....

Libby Walker's young life was anything but stable but this changed when she turned eight. Her grandmother recognized that her daughter was unable to care for Libby and she took her granddaughter to live with her. For the next forty-two years, until her death, it was Gram who counseled her, consoled her, and offered her unconditional love. Now, as Libby deals with grieving her grandmother's death and sorting through her belongings. she finds reasons to question her true identity. She was fifty years old and she still didn't truly know who she was. Who was her father? What was her legacy?

Author Deb Elkink shares Libby's past life and present life in alternating time periods and I found myself uncertain at times but that didn't stop me reading! I loved seeing the relationship between Libby and her "Gram" and I was drawn into the mystery surrounding the recurring dreams that showed her as a child in a strange house. Libby wondered if 'Maybe her loss of Gram was reviving sorrow she surely must have felt back then, a little girl abandoned by her mother and never knowing a father.'

Libby's search for her family brings her into contact with a young woman who is searching for facts to support her academic theories and their separate lives seem somehow connected. Could this red journal have answers for both of them?

The Red Journal offers both contemporary settings and historical fiction with a subtle faith message and it is a satisfying story that is worthy to be a part of The Mosaic Collection.

I received a complimentary copy from the author and I am voluntarily sharing my honest opinions in this review.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deb Elkink lives with her husband, Gerrit, on the banks of a lovely creek in the rolling hills of southern Alberta near the city of Medicine Hat, a stone's throw from the Montana border. She is connected to several writers' associations and was recently recruited to The Mosaic Collection (an international publishing group of women authors). She is also involved in the local church and in community life.

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