Thursday, February 11, 2010

Walking on Broken Glass

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


Walking on Broken Glass


Abingdon Press (February 2010)


by


Christa Allan






ABOUT THE AUTHOR:





Christa Allan, a true Southern woman who knows any cook worth her gumbo always starts with a roux and who never wears white after Labor Day, weaves stories of unscripted grace with threads of hope, humor, and heart.



The mother of five and grandmother of three, Christa teaches high school English. She and her husband, Ken live in Abita Springs, Louisiana where they play golf, dodge hurricanes, and anticipate retirement.







ABOUT THE BOOK



Leah Thornton's life, like her Southern Living home, has great curb appeal. But already sloshed from one-too-many drinks at a faculty party, Leah cruises the supermarket aisles in search of something tasty to enhance her Starbucks—Kahlua and a paralyzing encounter with a can of frozen apple juice shatters the facade, forcing her to admit that all is not as it appears.



When her best friend Molly gets in Leah's face about her refusal to deal with her life, Leah is forced to make a decision. Can this brand-conscious socialite walk away from the country club into 28 days of rehab? Leah is sitting in the office of the local rehab center facing an admissions counselor who fails to understand the most basic things, like the fact that apple juice is not a suitable cocktail mixer.



Rehab is no picnic, and being forced to experience and deal with the reality of her life isn’t Leah’s idea of fun. Can she leave what she has now to gain back what she needs? Joy, sadness, pain and a new srength converge, testing her marriage, her friendships and her faith.



But through the battle she finds a reservoir of courage she never knew she had, and the loving arms of a God she never quite believed existed.



If you would like to read the first chapter of Walking on Broken Glass, go HERE

Walking on Broken Glass by Christa Allan is a stunning debut novel that will leave readers breathless. Leah Thornton conceivably has everything: handsome husband, big house, successful career as a teacher, credit cards without limit, but it has all come at a heavy cost. Standing in the grocery store, looking at the apple juice, she becomes overwhelmed by all of the choices and is forced to acknowledge her growing alcohol addiction. She checks into rehab, despite her husband's angry manipulations, to rediscover who she is and try to find a way to live sober with all of the pain she had been using alcohol to hide. Leah's visit to rehab and struggle with alcoholism is startling and unflinching in its honesty. Allan somehow manages to make this dark and terrible story both funny and hopeful. Readers will ache with Leah's losses and the abuse she faced daily, and as she overcomes, will face their own truths about addiction, abuse, loss, and pain. This is definitely an author I'm adding to my must-read list.

2 comments:

P Torres said...

Sounds like a good "first-book" and worth giving it a try. I'm always looking for new "good" Christian authors. Thank you. P.S. I am a new blogger, and truly like yours!

Christa Allan said...

Thank you for sharing my novel with your readers and for your review that truly captures Leah.

I'm so proud of Abingdon for publishing this book, and I appreciate your kind words.