Approved for 12+

Interrupted: A Life Beyond Words (Novel)

If Sam Carroll hadn’t shown up, she might have been able to get to her mother in time. Instead, Allie Everly finds herself at a funeral, mourning the loss of her beloved mother. She is dealt another blow when, a few hours later, she is sent from Tennessee to Maine to become the daughter of Miss Beatrice Lovell, a prim woman with a faith Allie cannot accept.

Poetry and letters written to her mother become the only things keeping Allie’s heart from hardening completely. But then Sam arrives for the summer, and with him comes many confusing emotions, both toward him and the people around her. As World War II looms, Allie will be forced to decide whether hanging on to the past is worth losing her chance to be loved.

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Negative Rating
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Dove Review

“Interrupted: Life Beyond Words” is the coming-of-agestory of 14-year-old Alcyone Everly, written by 14-year-old Rachel Coker. The year is 1939 and Alcyone lives in rural Tennessee with her mother, who is dying of brain cancer.

The first few chapters cover the last months of their quiet lives in Tennessee. Other than visits from neighbor Sam Carroll, they remain isolated. After Mrs. Everly dies, a well-meaning neighbor arranges for Alcyone to be adopted by wealthy Maine widow Beatrice Lovell, who welcomes Alcyone with open arms but whom the girl rebuffs at every turn.

Fast forward four years to when Alcyone is surprised to meet Sam Carroll again. The two are constantly thrown together and fun-loving Sam, who has cared about Alcyone for years, refuses to be put off by her strong defenses.

A central theme of the book is belonging and adoption.Throughout the novel Alcyone struggles with feeling like an outsider and makes it true by shutting out almost everyone around her. She is unlikable through much of the book, but in choosing to love Sam, her heart begins to soften. Over the years, Beatrice’s steady love and constant prayers as well as Sam’s steady faith erode Alcyone’s resistance and she finds herself surrendering her life to God. Her behavior begins to change and she begins to follow her dreams of publishing her poetry.

World War II is only a backdrop here, so if you’re looking for a strong WWII story you’ll need to look elsewhere. If you want a wholesome romance with a natural gospel message, this is the perfect book for you. Wegive our Dove Seal to this novel.

Dove Rating Details

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Faith

None

0
Integrity

A woman falls and hits her head; character cuts his foot; girl is swept into the ocean by a big wave and struggles in the water; character imagines a soldier shooting another soldier; slow and peaceful death is described; character shoves another character; character has a heart attack.

1
Sex

Man and woman hug; man kisses a woman’s hand; squeezes her hand; kisses her on the cheek.

0
Language

None

1
Violence

A woman falls and hits her head; character cuts his foot; girl is swept into the ocean by a big wave and struggles in the water; character imagines a soldier shooting another soldier; slow and peaceful death is described; character shoves another character; character has a heart attack.

0
Drugs

None

0
Nudity

None

2
Other

A father abandons his family; a mother dies; woman says she created her garden for the fairies to play; character doesn’t believe in God and says disparaging things about Christians; girl is adopted by a woman and struggles to feel accepted; girl thinks of her elderly neighbor as “Miss Prissy-Pants.”

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