Power of Prose, Power of Story ~ Forsaking All Others by Allison Pittman ~ Review

Few characters and the authors who create them upon the page, ring my emotions and drive me to escape within the pages of a well-written novel. With tension, a flair for the dramatic, an ability to build the emotions until I felt the pull of heartache or the joy of rejoicing, “Forsaking All Others” was a novel I dreaded giving up.

            I first met Camilla in “For Time and All Eternity”, the story of a woman deceived into Mormonism and then desperate to escape. The second novel in the series had me at the throat the entire way through. The beauty of the prose paints a fascinating picture. One of desperation, but hope. Love and yet loss. And the unquenchable hold of faith once lost, but now found.

            I can’t get over how much I loved the writing. The story is fantastic, the writing makes it sing. While many readers might become tired of the style, I found it freeing and gripping. I wanted to drink each word in and let it resonate within me.

            The story battles between two faiths. One a religion and the other salvation in Christ. I never once felt preached at.

            Camilla is a character I fell completely in love with, but I also loved hers and Nathan’s love story and I longed for the right resolution for their marriage.  I believe that was given, but there is still a part of me that is saddened when I closed the book.

            So many dynamics in this novel, a 200 word review feels constricting. I loved it. Plain and simple, I loved it. I hope you will too.

            This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review.

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More about the novel...

Camilla Fox is alive.

The last thing she remembers is being lost in the snow after leaving her home to escape the Mormon faith she no longer calls her own. She’s been taken in by the 5th Infantry Regiment of the US Army and given over to the personal care of Captain Charles Brandon. As she regains her strength, memories of her two children she had to leave behind come flooding back, threatening to break her heart.

Camilla is determined to reunite with her daughters. But when news of her father’s grave illness reaches her, she knows she must return to the family farm to reconcile with her father. As spring arrives, Camilla returns to Salt Lake City a changed woman, but nothing could prepare her for the changes to the city, to the Mormon church, and to the family she left behind.