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Color the Sidewalk for Me (The Bradleyville Series #2)
 
 
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Color the Sidewalk for Me (The Bradleyville Series #2) [Paperback]

Brandilyn Collins (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 1, 2002
As a chalk-fingered child, I had worn my craving for Mama's love on my sleeve. But as I grew, that craving became cloaked in excuses and denial until slowly it sank beneath my skin to lie unheeded but vital, like the sinews of my framework. By the time I was a teenager, I thought the gap between Mama and me could not be wider. And then Danny came along. . . . A splendidly colored sidewalk. Six-year-old Celia presented the gift to her mother with pride---and received only anger in return. Why couldn't Mama love her? Years later, when once-in-a-lifetime love found Celia, her mother opposed it. The crushing losses that followed drove Celia, guilt-ridden and grieving, from her Bradleyville home. Now thirty-five, she must return to nurse her father after a stroke. But the deepest need for healing lies in the rift between mother and daughter. God can perform such a miracle. But first Celia and Mama must let go of the past--before it destroys them both.

Frequently Bought Together

Color the Sidewalk for Me (The Bradleyville Series #2) + Cast a Road Before Me (The Bradleyville Series #1) + Capture the Wind for Me (The Bradleyville Series #3)
Price For All Three: $33.12

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this excellent novel for the inspirational market, Collins uses her talent for suspense (Eyes of Elisha) in a more memoirlike tale that flashes back and forth between the 1960s and the 1990s as it explores a mother/daughter relationship. As the story opens, we find that 35-year-old Celia Matthews left home 17 years before, sure that it was her harsh words that drove her little brother, Kevy, from the house and prompted his bicycle accident. Wracked with guilt, embittered toward her mother and conflicted about her botched romance with Danny Cander, Celia shook the dust of small-town Bradleyville, Ky., off her feet and crafted a life for herself as an account executive in Little Rock, Ark. But her lack of mother-love isn't shaken off so easily. She bobs in and out of several relationships, losing her faith and emotionally treading water. Only when her father has a stroke and her mother pleads for help are the wheels of reconciliation set in motion. The story is beautifully written and the characters (whom readers will recognize from Collins's related stand-alone novel Cast a Road Before Me) are well developed, although the pacing drags in spots. The reason for Celia's lack of mother-love is not explained as neatly as might be wished; conversely, the conclusion is like a fairy tale, a contrivance that readers, depending on their tastes, may appreciate or find disappointing in. Overall, this novel exemplifies how Christian fiction is finally coming of age.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

In this excellent novel for the inspirational market, Collins uses her talent for suspense (Eyes of Elisha) in a more memoirlike tale that flashes back and forth between the 1960s and the 1990s as it explores a mother/daughter relationship. As the story opens, we find that 35-year-old Celia Matthews left home 17 years before, sure that it was her harsh words that drove her little brother, Kevy, from the house and prompted his bicycle accident. Wracked with guilt, embittered toward her mother and conflicted about her botched romance with Danny Cander, Celia shook the dust of small-town Bradleyville, Ky., off her feet and crafted a life for herself as an account executive in Little Rock, Ark. But her lack of mother-love isn't shaken off so easily. She bobs in and out of several relationships, losing her faith and emotionally treading water. Only when her father has a stroke and her mother pleads for help are the wheels of reconciliation set in motion. The story is beautifully written and the characters (whom readers will recognize from Collins's related stand-alone novel Cast a Road Before Me) are well developed, although the pacing drags in spots. The reason for Celia's lack of mother-love is not explained as neatly as might be wished; conversely, the conclusion is like a fairy tale, a contrivance that readers, depending on their tastes, may appreciate or find disappointing in. Overall, this novel exemplifies how Christian fiction is finally coming of age. (Mar.) -- Publisher's Weekly


Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Zondervan (March 1, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0310242428
  • ISBN-13: 978-0310242420
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.9 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #289,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brandilyn Collins is an award-winning and best-selling novelist, writing her trademarked Seatbelt Suspense®--fast-paced, character-driven suspense with myriad twists and an interwoven thread of faith. She also has written the distinctive book on fiction-writing techniques, Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors (John Wiley & Sons).

You can read excerpts from all her books at her Web site: www.brandilyncollins.com.

 

Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring read, April 2, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Color the Sidewalk for Me (The Bradleyville Series #2) (Paperback)
"Color the Sidewalk for Me" is a well-written inspirational novel of family struggles and disappointments. Ms. Collins uses flashback effectively and her characters are believable.

This is a story of failure and forgiveness, reconciliation and redemption. After years of heartache and rejection, Celia finally discovers the reason for her mother's coolness and seeming lack of love. Faith (and the lack of it) is portrayed believably and without preachiness.

The competition between her grandfather and his friend is a humorous touch that is interwoven throughout the story.

I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars No Doubt - A Bestseller!, August 9, 2002
This review is from: Color the Sidewalk for Me (The Bradleyville Series #2) (Paperback)
This book will be another bestseller for Brandilyn Collins. This sequel to "Cast a Road Before Me" carries the reader through the travails of Celia, a thirty-five-year-old woman who fell away from her faith in God years ago.

Celia, a high-powered advertising executive, finds out that her beloved father suffered a stroke and needs her help. She must return to Bradleyville to nurse him, yet she dreads the inevitable confrontation with her mother. As a child, she attempted to show love to Mama and was coldly rebuffed. Now, years later, the painful past comes back and must be reckoned with.

The book alternates between the present and Celia's past. Revealing only enough to make the reader want more, the story fluctuates smoothly between eras. The climactic scene lies hidden and the reader breathlessly awaits the culmination of this family's ordeal.

"Color the Sidewalk for Me" reads like a book club selection. Filled with emotional turmoil, agony, and sorrow, Celia bleeds her heart out to the reader. We feel her pain, sympathize with her, and yearn for her to heal. Her suffering acts as a catharsis for our own yen to be understood and loved unconditionally.

reviewed by Terri for Christian Bookshelf

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Spiritually Inspirational, May 15, 2003
By 
"mlgazo" (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Color the Sidewalk for Me (The Bradleyville Series #2) (Paperback)
This was the first book I have read from Brandilyn Collins and I was impressed beyond words. An avid reader, it takes a very talented author to have their writting affect me clear to my soul. I usually dislike the past/present method of writing, but Collins used this method so successfully, and this story could not have been written using another.

This is by far one of the best books I have ever read. I thank the author for sharing this story - one that was inspired by a family tradition. Spending time on this book has been such a pleasant expereince.

I recommend this book to anyone who has loved and lost and who won't mind feeling sentimental...and for one who acknowledges how God always brings us through our trials. And everything always works for the best in His time.

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
The boxes are heavy, their rough rope handles cutting into my palms. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Miss Jessie, Mary Lee, Jake Lewellyn, Danny Cander, Little Rock, Bobby Delham, Lee Harding, John Forkes, Quentin Sammons, Thomas Bradley, Anthony Cander, Main Street, Doc Richardson, Gary Stelt, Gerald Henley, New York, Celia Matthews, Minton Street, Miss Hemington, Southern Bank, Tull's Drugstore, Jake's Rock, Lawrence Tremaine, Lexington Herald, Mona Tesch
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