Customer Reviews

Autumn Blue: A Novel

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I only write reviews if I really love a book, and this book is one of my favorites that I'm telling my friends about. As I was reading the book, I kept thinking about how gifted the author is.Thanks for the new pick for our book club.

Sidney is a single mother of three kids, who has just moved into a new home. However she can't fully enjoy their new surroundings because her teenage son, Ty, has run away. Unfortunately he has a police record due to a robbery and the police are onto him. Sidney believes her son is innocent and does her hardest to make him turn to the right path no matter what it takes even with the deputy sheriff trying to vie for her attention. Meanwhile her neighbor Millard is an elderly man who's daughter insists that he is too old to take care of himself. Trying to prove her wrong, against his wishes, he soon is swept up in the affairs of Sidney's family and becomes a surrogate grandfather. This makeshift family learns to bond together as they go through a time of learning to trust and have faith.

I thought this was an excellent book. The story is so well developed that I felt like I was watching a movie instead of just reading the story. The lead characters were all very real and I could understand why all of them acted the way they did. Sidney is just a concerned mother who wants what's best for her son. You feel her frustration with trying to understand Ty and her worry when he keeps running away. Her story about finding a father figure with Jack was funny and sad. Ty is an angry teenager but you can sense why he keeps rebelling. He's not obnoxious but you can feel his anger and pain. I really liked Millard. He reminded me of the brothers in Secondhand Lions. He was crusty at first but eventually caved into the family that had showed him the affection his own daughter didn't. I didn't like Alex at first, especially with the way he barged into Sidney's bedroom. However his character too had a story behind the actions that helped to explain who he really was. There are scenes that make you laugh and then you turn the page and want to cry. The story is not preachy at all yet still puts out a message that family and trust is important. The only problem I had with this book was that Sidney had named her youngest daughter Sissy. I don't know if this name is that popular but it sounds degrading to be called a "sissy" all the time. It makes the character sound really weak since that word is used as an insult most of the time. But since Sidney's daughters are mostly in the background, this isn't such a big deal.

This is the second novel for Karen Harter and she has done a superb job with this book. I highly recommend it for fans of women's fiction who enjoy a moving story with realistic characters.

It's autumn in Ham Bone - a little town up in the mountains, and the chill of fall is in the air. Sidney Walker is having problems. Her quiet life living in a trailer on the edge of town is being turned topsy turvy. Her 15 year old son, Tyson, has disappeared into the woods - as he has occasionally done - but this time, the police are looking for him, and the cop in charge of the case is a no-nonsense, hard-nosed kind of person who is giving her a tough time because Tyson is a prime suspect in several robberies around town.

Sidney also appears to be one of those women who feel vulnerable because her family unit is not complete. She is divorced. There is no husband/father figure to help guide her teenage son or for her two younger daughters. Tyson's father is apparently a no-good deadbeat who managed to destroy her life earlier by getting her pregnant while she was in college and who walked out on her after the third kid arrived with no support payments or even many visits. A brief romance with a local guy who appeared to be very decent fizzled out because there were just no romantic feelings there at all.

Now, with her son in trouble, she believes that the answer to the problem is to chase after that guy again. She even finds a little prayer hall and prays to god for assistance, and, lo and behold, the old non-flame is still available and is willing to have another go at the attractive woman. In addition, the retired school teacher who lives across the street willingly steps forward to take over supervision of Tyson while Sidney is at work. So, maybe god's answer is coming?

Not so fast. There are additional complications and additional twists and turns in this story, but fear not! The ending is happy and predictable and several family issues are resolved for Sidney, her neighbor, and several other people as well.

The story is a quick read and is meant to be a "feel good, trust in god" story and it succeeds in that mission. It has many moments of light humor and tear jerkers as well. Some of the plot twists are transparent and can be seen coming from hundreds of pages away, and some will surprise you. It is a good, light, summer reading kind of book. So, enjoy!

Millard Bradbury is unimpressed by his new neighbours, a tired looking single mum with an unruly teenage son looking for trouble and two little girls who talk incessantly. An insatiable mole is ravaging his beautiful lawn and his daughter is angling to put him in a facility for old folk. Millard just wishes everyone would leave him in peace to complete his crosswords and vicariously win Wheel of Fortune each day.

Sidney Walker is at her wits end over her son Ty's disappearance and subsequent arrest by the hard-hearted Deputy Sheriff Estrada who seems to have a personal vendetta against Ty. Sidney berates herself for breaking up with Jack, a man Ty respected and wonders if he will take her back and provide the stability and role model Ty desperately needs.

Each of these people's lives will become entwined in ways unimaginable being transformed by the power of love and forgiveness and the pursuit of integrity and purpose.

Autumn Blue is a powerful read, holding me captive from the first page and moving me to tears on more than one occasion. Karen Harter has created genuine and fascinating characters shaped by the loves and losses of their past and present. Karen enlightens the reader to their individual stories with consummate timing. This book is a true love story, not only in the romantic sense which is exquisitely done, but also by illuminating the joy of family and the sacrificial love of friendship that is unexpected yet completely transforming. A beautiful tale that I will read again and again.

Autumn Blue by Karen Harter is what every Christian fiction book should aspire to be. It's a terrific story about life that has a couple of characters talk about or think about God with no sermons or preaching. Sidney Walker feels lost. Her son Ty truly is lost; he's been missing for several days after being caught shoplifting from the local grocery store. Sidney is struggling to take care of her three children all on her own. Millard Bradbury, her elderly neighbor, is filling his days with crossword puzzles and visits from his busy daughter. Through a series of circumstances, Millard ends up babysitting for Ty while Sidney is at work, and everyone's lives are changed by what comes next. Harter creates believable characters filled with flaws and smart dialogue. When police officer Alex Estrada enters the scene, the reader can't help but relate to Sidney's anger and frustration at his condescending attitude. The book is filled with gentle lessons: how we pray to God for solutions, and then take the situation in our own hands rather than wait on him; how our head and our heart can want two completely different things, how our elderly still have much to offer if the opportunity is given, how anger and regret can fill us up until we have nothing to give the world but anger. Harter's description of a small town is dead-on, and the character's growth is realistic. What the book shows best without shoving it down the reader's throat is how God makes all things work to his purpose.

This was a very good book. I loved picturing the scenery & the hometown feel this book imbibed. I liked the fact that it was so realistic & down-to-earth. It was dark in some points, but you could see how it turns out well in the end without too much stretching. Although I could see how things are going to end up way before the end, I thoroughly enjoyed the process of Harter taking me there. The only caveat that I would say is that I found the main character a littttttle bit too sure of herself, just a tad (and it was a little bit irritating at a couple of points - but that's probably just me). Overall, this was a GREAT book. You should definitely pick it up.

I am a book collector. After I read this book,I knew this was one that would stay in our libray. I ordered more Autumn Blue's thru Amazon to give as gifts. It is a book with substance,it is refreshing, entertaining, hard to put down.

Reviewed by Lori Plach for Reader Views (3/07)


Do you sometimes think that somebody has something against your child? If you are like most mothers, you only want to believe the best in your child. Sidney Walker is one of these mothers saying "Not my kid." She is having a hard enough time trying to raise her three children without her ex-husband's assistance.

It's not like she has no one to provide male influence on her 17-year-old son Tyson. Millard is mistaken for the teen's grandfather, but the mistaken identity seems to work out for the family's favor. He enjoys Wheel of Fortune but there are a lot of things he doesn't have a clue about, especially in the area of technology. Millard is a father himself and is dealing with his own family issues. Millard is a rather crotchety old character but he shows his softer side in the way he is always there for Sidney and Tyson. He even assists with Tyson being under house arrest. Is this the opportunity to have a better relationship with a juvenile and them both to learn something from each other?

Alex meets Sidney while he is arresting Tyson on charges. He serves as Alex's escort to help get his community service time in. Is it purely for evidence that Alex keeps making investigations at Sidney's house? No matter how much Alex's opinion starts changing towards Alex and his mother, the evidence on other crimes in town point to Tyson.

"Autumn Blue" is an excellent book about the small town of Ham Bone. You will easily find yourself taken by the characters in town. There is enough mystery to keep the reader's interest throughout the book. Karen Harter is very gifted with the way she portrays her characters. She brings the characters to life and you feel like you are witnessing the events of this book firsthand. She uses very descriptive words and images.

"Autumn Blue" could easily be used for reading groups or made into a movie. There is a "Reading Group Guide" at the back of the book with questions for discussion. It is a great family drama and story of redemption and love making appearances in the most unlikely places.

Received book free of charge

Karen Harter mixes equal parts faith, family and forgiveness in her second novel involving a group of wayward small-towners who are thrown together under unfortunate circumstances. Each fighting to figure out what's best --- and sometimes rejecting what comes naturally --- these desperate seekers are what drive the narrative forward to its conclusion.

Sidney Walker and her three children live a somewhat sheltered existence in their beat-up mobile home, plopped on a miniscule plot of land in a "three-lane-bowling-alley-everything-shuts-down-around-dinner-time town." As Sidney puts it, "I don't find it boring, not for one minute. I like the fact that I can go out on my porch and breathe air that's been filtered by the thousands of Christmas trees on those hills. My children wander the woods instead of city sidewalks, and noisy, smoggy streets. I feel safe here."

Across the street, an older man named Millard lives alone following his wife's death, content to keep his daily routine of filling out crossword puzzles, doing yard work, and ignoring the incessant yammering of his daughter who loves to inform him that he's too old to do pretty much anything. Millard has fairly little contact with the Walkers, aside from the occasional hello when getting the mail. That is, until tragedy strikes.

When Sidney's 15-year-old son, Ty, is arrested on burglary charges for a crime he swears he didn't commit, Sidney is at her wits' end. The older he gets, the more Sidney feels out-of-touch with the sweet and innocent boy he used to be. If only she had a husband around to help her shoulder the weight of raising kids while also working full-time. So, when Ty is sentenced to do time in prison and says he'd rather die than be committed, Sidney must do everything she can think of to save her son.

Luckily, Millard steps in before Ty is carted off to jail and offers to watch him while he's under house arrest instead. This doesn't sit well with Ty, yet the two begrudgingly decide to learn how to make the situation work, despite their mutual unhappiness and distrust.

Meanwhile, Sidney grows increasingly preoccupied with snagging a man to "fill out" her family. Brawny and full of charm, Jack (a prior beau) seems the perfect candidate, yet there is something about Alex (ironically, the sheriff who arrested Ty and the man in charge of his rehabilitation) that makes her heart feel mysteriously a-flutter. In the beginning, she thought, "Alex Estrada had nothing to do with her goal; [that] he was merely a distraction, one that she would not allow. She knew that Jack was right for her and, more important, right for her children, and nothing else mattered...Jack was the dream. A happy, healthy family complete with a dad." But, as time passes and she still doesn't feel that special spark with Jack that she can't help but feel every time she's around Alex, Sidney realizes she has a decision to make --- one that will surely affect everyone...forever.

In the end, each of the tangled pieces of AUTUMN BLUE comes together in a neatly compiled package...almost too neatly. Nevertheless, fans of sinewy family dramas, juicy romance novels and faith-based stories (with frequent mentions of God) will latch on to Harter's sophomore effort.

--- Reviewed by Alexis Burling