Who Do I Talk To? - Neta Jackson

[goodreads]

Title: Who Do I Talk To?
Author: Neta Jackson
Genre: Christian fiction
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 393
Date read: October, 2009

Gabby Fairbanks's husband locks her out and disappears with her sons, leaving her homeless and stunned. With her frail mother and a mutt named Dandy, Gabby must take refuge at the women's shelter where she works, trying to salvage the shattered pieces of her life. There, her new friends-including Lucy the bag lady and sisters from the Yada Yada Prayer Group-prop her up.

But a midnight intruder brings unwanted media attention to the shelter and threatens to undermine Gabby's chances of getting her sons back. Still hoping to put her family together again, Gabby puzzles over what to do with the warm attentions of a sympathetic lawyer who rebuilds her confidence and soothes her wounded spirit.

Neta Jackson redeemed herself in this second book in the House of Hope series. I had been extremely disappointed by Where Do I Go?, because it ended on such a depressing note, and had seemed pretty pointless - using the entire book to get the main character down as low as she could get.

In Who Do I Talk To? it becomes apparent why Neta Jackson did this. I still think it's an extremely risky venture to write the first book in a series like that. If I hadn't already been introduced to her writing through the Yada Yada series, I think I would have given up on her then and there. As it was, it was with some reluctance I picked up the second book, and for once, I didn't start reading it immediately.

But thankfully the atmosphere was completely different. Still not as upbeat as in the Yada Yada series, but taking the topic into consideration, that would have been completely inappropriate. However, it was a lot more positive, and I ended up laughing and crying together with Gabby.

The characters were better fleshed out (especially Gabby's father-in-law) and I enjoyed getting to know them better, and seeing them interact with Gabby and her mother. And I LOVED the ending.

Still nowhere as inspirational as the Yada Yada series, Neta Jackson has "won me back", and I'll definitely be purchasing Who Do I Lean On? once it comes out... which unfortunately won't be until June 2010.