Thursday, September 6, 2012

Cruel Harvest by Fran Elizabeth Grubb

I read this book in one day, nearly in one sitting.  I could hardly put it down.  A memoir that simultaneously broke my heart for the story it told and caused me to marvel at the resiliency of the human spirit, Fran Grubb's Cruel Harvest was an engaging read.

I've always been a sucker for a memoir, as I love to read about the lives of others, the challenges they have faced and the ways they found to surmount those challenges.  That is the plot of nearly every memoir and I am seldom disappointed in that story, despite the many differences in the tellings.  This book was no different.  The story gripped me from the first page and I was left at the end, wishing I could read more.  In fact, if I have any criticism to offer, it would be that the story seemed to end a bit abruptly, with much of it left untold. 

The remarkable detail of Grubb's nearly nonexistent childhood, abusive father and broken mother would break the heart of nearly anyone.  Yet even in the depravity that she was subjected to, she found love in her heart for her family and hope inside that the elusive someday would indeed be better.  I enjoyed the interweaving of her past with the story of reuniting with some of her family later in life.  Despite the challenges she faced and the innocence that was taken far too early, Grubb finds a way to trust the Lord with her burdens and she shares that fact freely in her storytelling without becoming "preachy" which often happens in memoirs.

Even though parts of this book were hard to read, I could not put it down.  Read it.