If you want a heart wrenching story full of poignant emotion, then A Simple Gift by Karyn Witmer is for you.

Avery Montgomery’s life seemed perfect, until the fateful day her daughter, Fiona, took off with her boyfriend and band mates to get famous in California. Her life hadn’t been the same since. So when, a year later, Fiona suddenly reappears at the local grocery store, Avery’s life once again turns upside down.

Fiona has been through a lot since she left and has made many mistakes she’s afraid to admit to her mother. When Avery tries to re-establish a relationship, Fiona resists, more afraid of what her father, Mike, would do than her mother. Tensions grow even higher, until Avery is forced to a decision – her marriage to Mike, or her relationship with Fiona. Nonetheless, Avery hopes and prays for a reunion of her small family in time for Christmas. Can A Simple Gift be the holiday miracle they all need?

Be prepared, you will need plenty of Kleenex on-hand before you begin A Simple Gift. Emotions are high throughout the entire novel, especially in the last 150 pages or so, which will keep you up all night wanting to finish. I love a novel that can make me feel the whole spectrum of emotions. However, I admit, I usually steer clear of the genre of (non-romance) women’s fiction because sometimes it makes me feel too much. But hearing several people talk about how heart-warming - and heart-breaking - A Simple Gift is, I just had to read it for myself. I wasn’t disappointed, not by a long shot. I finished the book in three days and with my hectic schedule, that’s almost a miracle in itself.

A Simple Gift is a relationship novel, plain and, well… simple. But don’t let that fool you. The story is very evolved, with so much depth it’s amazing Witmer squeezed it all into one book. Between the covers we are engrossed in Avery’s life, and those of her family. We will stand beside Avery as her marriage self-destructs, her relationship with Fiona is gradually rebuilt, and as she faces her mother… and all those past hurts Avery has lived through. But it doesn’t end there.

We live through Mike’s eyes as he struggles with the knowledge his beloved daughter Fiona abandoned them and his subsequent inability to forgive her. He is only able to find solace in the stars and sky, a hobby he cultivated because it was such a passion of Fiona’s. We also follow with him as his brother slowly destroys himself with alcohol, struggling with his own failures. All Mike wants to do is love and protect his family, but Fiona’s leaving stole away the greater part of his heart. We also see how Mike handles his marriage falling apart, all because he and Avery forgot how to love each other in the midst of all their personal and family crises.

What? There is still more? You bet! We will also journey with Fiona on her path to self-discovery. As she lives with the results of her actions and decisions, she becomes a much stronger young woman. We discover her secrets she is so determined to keep from her family, only to find out some things are bound to come out one way or another.

Through all the struggles our small Montgomery family endures, there is still a thread of hope and love binding one and all in its magic. By the end of the novel, you will find yourself wanting to initiate a family tradition like the one that holds generations together here. Everyone can relate on some level as A Simple Gift is so real in how family life is portrayed. Each victory and setback they experience will have you crying, laughing, or shouting. Karyn Witmer, you have a remarkable gift for bringing such powerful feelings to life in your art. Don’t ever stop writing from the heart.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, October 2006. All rights reserved.