Customer Reviews

Deep in the Heart

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I woke up every morning looking forward to my coffee and this book. The characters held me, especially how they were interconnected. The prose was also poetic and just a delight to read. At times I was angry with the main character, Hannah, however, you still felt a certain empathy towards her, especially in the end. Warner's a fine writer, and I look forward to her future works.

Warner takes some big risks, and most of those risks pay off for her. We come away from the story understanding not only more about her characters (a prize for any novelist) but also about an issue that many of us hear about daily from people who insist upon taking sides.

There are no "good" sides here, but there aren't any really "bad" ones either. Proponents on either side are going to squirm, but maybe, given the polemics of abortion, that isn't such a bad thing.

My own criticism was the the pro-life movement (and the pro-choice one as well) are fundamentally baby-boomer movements -- and the pro-life grannies (while fascinating) were not true to life, as so much else in the book was. I felt that while Warner expressed sympathy with the pro-life side, she did not truly understand the dynamics of it.

This book, as others have said, is about a male perspective. A wonderful creation from a writer that is demonstrating not only talent, but compassion as well.

Three lives intertwine in contemporary Austin, Texas. Hannah, a chilly 40ish assistant principal gets unexpectedly pregnant. Her sensitive artist husband Carl desperately wants the child to shore up their failing marriage, but he finds himself rushing to the abortion clinic too late to stop her from getting rid of it.

At the clinic, fundamentalist Christians led by their troubled minister stage a protest. One of them, an innocent 23 year-old named Penny notices Carl and gets drawn into his life despite being courted by her minister. A fairly involving, well-written novel. I found Hannah's story more gripping than Penny's though I found Hannah much harder to like. (Not because Hannah has an abortion, but because of her personality.) Not a bad read, but perhaps you should seek out a library copy.

Sharon Oard Warner's debut novel is fast-paced and taut. The primary story concerns itself with the abortion debate, but the secondary story, the point of view of the baby's father, is powerful and refreshing.

Hannah Solace, an assistant high school principal, doesn't feel that she has what it takes to be a mother. She has no tenderness, no maternal instinct, and no desire to multiply. Not like her younger sister, Helen, a housewife and mother of four. But at the age of 40 and after eight years of marriage, Hannah is pregnant and terribly frightened at the prospect of motherhood. She knows that her artist husband, Carl, desperatly wants a child. He's convinced that a baby will renew their marriage and bring him happiness.

But Hannah cannot bring herself to go through with the pregnancy. Without consulting Carl, she makes an appointment at the local abortion clinic. When she reaches the clinic, she is met by a group from the Gospel Fellowship church, a non-demoninational following, who try to disuade her from her desired course of action. Carl discovers what Hannah is about to do, but arrives much too late to save the child. The scene with him in the hallway of the clinic calling for Hannah is gut-wrenching.

The pro-life demonstrators target Hannah and the other women who had abortions that day. They graffiti "murderer" and "babykiller" on the women's homes in red and black paint. News coverage of the vandalism results in the women becoming objects of fascination for the townspeople as they jam the suburban streets to catch a glimpse of the destruction.

Carl seeks solace in his painting, in his job as bookstore manager at the mall, and in Penny Reed, one of the congregation picketing that awful morning. I was waiting for a romance to develop between Carl and Penny, but Warner did not stoop that low.

Sharon Oard Warner does an excellent job in protraying both sides of the abortion debate without making a case for either side. Instead, she hearlds one point of view that is hardly ever considered--the father's. The story is fast-paced, simple and powerful. The characters are complex, distinctly drawn and unique. The only major fault with Warner's tale is how the Gospel Fellowship acquired the women's names and addresses.

I couldn't put this book down.

Ms. Warner has done a masterful job of crafting a great story. One that is engaging and interesting, however this is not the main reason I think this is a great work.

Most of the time these types of books are obviously an effort to put forth a personal view, and usually adopting one side of a controversial subject. This is a perfect example of an author really delving into the guts of the issue and presenting the question, rather than the answer. Congratulations Ms. Warner!

This is the type of book that you don't want to end because the characters capture and hold you. The subject matter is difficult but handled with such a fabulous grace and humanity. Thank you Sharon for putting personal faces on all sides of the debate to help us remember that most choices we face are not black and white but offer many shades of gray in which it is easy to get lost and overwhelmed.

Warner possesses the distinction of being not only a great storyteller, but a craftsperson as well. On the surface, this masterfully constructed novel focuses on the abortion issue. Underneath, however, the novel explores the realm of the deeply personal -- the decisions we make, the unexpected things we do. Warner has a flair for toppling the readers expectations. Like the characters in her short story collection, Learning to Dance, every character in Warner's first novel can't help but surprise the reader as they perform the complicated and not-always-graceful dance of life.

Aptly-titled, "Deep in the Heart" is a compelling, sensitive and provocative debut novel which thoroughly engages the reader in a powerful narrative driven by sensitive-rendered and completely believable characters. The author, Sharon Oard Warner, uses the vehicle of a contested abortion to treat, with skill and sensitivity, the themes of family secrets and fragility, the loss and possibility of love in and around marriage, and the enormous impact conscience has in driving our everyday actions. This large and fast-paced novel is the product of an author who genuinely cares about her readers; Ms. Warner always rises above cliche and takes great risks in emphasizing the humanity of her charcters, all of whom are deeply involved in one of the pivotal political struggles of our day, abortion.

Quite late in the book, Dr. Hannah Solace realizes that her husband, Carl, devloped his love for her not from her beauty, but from her sadness. This understanding symbolizes the wholeness of the novel and encapsulates the underlying emotion felt by the reader. For "Heart" is a profoundly sad novel, although by book's end, the enduring qualities of hope, love and faith genuinely resolve themselves with an opitimistic view of the future. Each character is washed in hues of loneliness, despair and abandonment. Hannah, who is an admirable, articulate modern woman, suffers terribly from the memory of the childhood death of her mother; the resulting pressures and fear create an adult removed from her feelings and ultimately, her husband. Carl, an artist whose adult life swims in unfulfilled dreams of art and a responsive partner, yearns for a child to give a sense of animation and purpose to his life. One of the book's central ironies is the dissolution of a marriage after an abortion rather than because of one. The virginal Penny, who at the age of 23 seems resigned to a life outside the perameters of love, discovers complexity and multi-dimensional perspectives in the midst of an attempted romance with an intolerant, charismatic evangelical minister, whose own life abounds with internal conflict.

Ms. Oard presents a simply brilliant collage of motherhood. Hannah's sister, Helen, initially seems to be the model of stay-at-home contentment. As the novel progresses, turmoil and betrayal erode her confidence (the author often comments about the terrible state of her fingernails). Penny's mother, Delia, is swathed in secrets and Penny, herself, is suffused with a sense of abandonment. Penny's grandmother, Mattie, who ignores her own past and her daughter's torment, tries to serve as a mother-figure for Penny but is limited by her own guilt and restricted by her adherence to a faith which promises life but deals with its own prejudices and death-obsessions.

Ms. Warner informs us that she spent seven years and went through seven drafts before completing her novel. I can assure you that it was well worth her time and worth our wait. "Deep in the Heart" resonates with truth.

A Review of DEEP IN THE HEART by Sharon Oard Warner

What a great show for a first novel!

Great character development. Ms. Warner seems to conger up individuals by a snap of the fingers. Most are unforgettable mainly because they are so ordinary yet so realistic. Warner is so insightful that one has a hard time distinguishing the "good" guys from the "bad". All are too, too human. Most of us are far from saints but at the same time, we are basically far from being absolute devils. So too are her characters. The author walks around each one giving the reader one prospective after another of each as they appear in the book.

True, the plot over abortion is a tad creaky. We have all been exposed to it day in and day out to the point that of us are now thinking that now the laws of protection have been put in place to protect those who opt for their choice, so now let us move on to other ills of our society.

Again, well worth the reading if for just seeing a real pro perform.

Monday, March 26, 2001