Review: The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate

Series: Carolina Heirlooms #1
Genre: Women's Fiction 
Publisher: Tyndale House
Released: Aug. 16, 2013
384 pages

About the Book:

When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out Iola's rambling Victorian house.

Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola's walls, but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully decorated prayer boxes, one for each year, spanning from Iola's youth to her last days. Hidden in the boxes is the story of a lifetime, written on random bits of paper--the hopes and wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex woman passing through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life filled with journeys of faith, observations on love, and one final lesson that could change everything for Tandi.

  

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐

I seriously debated dnfing this book. The story moves slowly most of the way through and at times it was pretty boring. I struggled to care about the main character Tandi. She had courage and escaped a bad situation to provide better for her kids, but then got involved with a man in her new town and would leave the kids to care for themselves. I didn't understand her actions. When her landlord passes away she is hired to clean up the house and finds prayer letters written by Iola over her lifetime. As she begins reading the letters we learn what Iola's life was like. It was sad to read everything she experienced and how she was treated by her own family and community, yet she helped so many without them knowing it. While these letters do have an effect on Tandi it wasn't until she starts working at Sandy's shop that we really begin to see a change in her. She begins to put her kids first and finally stands up to her sister. It wasn't until the last 25% that the book picked up and I really cared to know what was going to happen. I did like the characters of Sandy and Paul as they showed Tandi true friendship and support. 

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)