If You Believe [Paperback]

Kristin Hannah (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett Books (1994)
• ASIN: B0012Q8YUY
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,967,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kristin Hannah was born in September 1960 in Southern California and grew up at the beach, making sand castles and playing in the surf. When she was eight years old, her father drove the family to Western Washington which they called home.

After working in a trendy advertising agency, Kristin decided to go to law school. "But you're going to be a writer" are the prophetic words she would never forget from her mother. Kristin was in her third-and final-year of law school and her mom was in the hospital, facing the end of her long battle with cancer. Kristin was shocked to discover that her mother believed she would become a writer. For the next few months, they collaborated on the worst, most clichéd historical romance ever written.

After her mom's death, she packed up all those bits and pieces of paper they'd collected and put them in a box in the back of her closet. Kristin got married and continued practicing law.

Then Kristin found out she was pregnant and was on bed rest for five months. By the time she'd read every book in the house and started asking her husband for cereal boxes to read, she knew she was a goner. That's when her husband reminded her of the book she'd started with her mom. Kristin pulled out the boxes of research material, dusted them off and began writing. By the time their son was born, she'd finished a first draft and found an obsession.

The rejections came, of course, and they stung for a while, but each one really just spurred her to try harder, work more. In 1990, Kristin got "the call," and in that moment, she went from a young mother with a cooler-than-average hobby to a professional writer, and has never looked back. In all the years between then and now, she have never lost her love of, or her enthusiasm for, telling stories. Kristin feels truly blessed to be a wife, a mother, and a writer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You will believe!!!, April 29, 2001

By 

Charles J Horne (Tuscaloosa, Alabama United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If You Believe (Mass Market Paperback)

I encountered Kristin Hannah a couple of months ago when I read the book, ANGEL FALLS: a nice book with a somewhat ... plot. I thought ANGLE FALLS was well-written with some beautiful prose, so I gave Kristin another shot with ON MYSTIC LAKE; it blew me away. ON MYSTIC LAKE is her best by far, but IF YOU BELIEVE comes mighty close. For those of you who are not familiar with Kristin Hannah, IF YOU BELIEVE is one of her earlier novels, and I can tell why she has been a productive writer and storyteller for the last ten years. IF YOU BELIEVE is a simple story about a woman, Mariah Throckmorton, who is hiding from a past that's filled with hurt, and her colorful, intelligent father. They live on a beautiful, secluded farm that happens to be graced with few visitors. Mad Dog Stone is a drifter who wanders by to find a meal and a place to sleep. Mad Dog becomes enthralled with Mariah, and wants to find out more about this simple, but beautiful woman. Lonely people are thrust together and the emotions fester until they become a full-blown hurricane. The plot works, the chemistry between the characters is wonderful, and couple that with the mystery of the landscape; you've got yourself an excellent book. Kristin Hannah will be a mainstay on my bookshelf for a long time. I only regret that I didn't discover this wonderful writer earlier. Blow the dust off your favorite book list, get your best pen out, and slowly write IF YOU BELIEVE at the top of the list; you won't be dissapointed.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my all-time favorite romances, April 25, 2000

By 

BarkLessWagMore (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: If You Believe (Mass Market Paperback)

If you haven't read Kristen Hannah's IF YOU BELIEVE you are missing out on one of the best character driven, emotionally wrenching stories the genre has to offer. If the rest of her books are even half this good I'm rushing out to purchase them all!

Mad Dog Stone is a fighter who works odd jobs in between bouts. He never stays in one place long enough to form any kind of emotional attachment and has broken many a heart along the way. His life is about to change when he answers an add for free room and board in exchange for a little work at the Throckmorton apple orchard. How hard can picking apples be after all?

The last thing Mariah Throckmorton wants is change in her life, especially in the form of a big, shiftless male. She is living in a self imposed exile while hiding from a scandalous past and a tragedy she has never allowed herself to recover from. She does her darndest to get this lazy critter off of her farm, which tends to make him all the more determined to hang around and take whatever new torture disguised as work she dishes out. She intrigues him as no other woman has and her obliviousness to his charms makes her all the more alluring.

The author writes with such emotional intensity I found myself either smiling or crying on nearly every page. She skillfully blends raucous wit with tender and heartbreakingly painful moments of emotion making IYB a powerful, not soon to be forgotten read. You won't find any fancy locales or wacky adventures in this book. What you will find is an honest down to earth book about two lonely people overcoming their fear of emotional intimacy and learning about the healing powers of love. What more could a reader ask for?

A full box of Kleenex read and a definate keeper!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mesmerizing love story, October 17, 2000

By 

Judith E. Pavluvcik (Dreaming of the beach in Hawaii, but living in the reality of the desert in Arizona!!) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: If You Believe (Mass Market Paperback)

If You Believe is one great love story by Kristin Hannah. This is the fourth book of hers that I have read and I simply cannot read her books fast enough! This book is incredibly emotional and it pulls you right into the character's world with such intensity, that you will definitely need a box of Kleenex handy!

Hannah has the talent of making her characters come alive with such depth and emotion. You feel their struggles, their losses and their loves. You feel their fear and you understand it all. Hannah writes with such emotion that you cannot but help becoming lost in the story line. She once again has you so connected to the characters, that you feel that you know them and this what endears readers to her. Hannah does not write your typical mush and gush romance novel - the love and romance is more real, down-earth and believable. Her heroines all seem to face reality-based challenges, which anyone can relate to, as well as to overcoming those challenges.

Hannah's writing is laced not only with depth filled emotions, but also with a unique sensitivity that touches the reader at a level most other authors never come close to. She manages to weave her magic from the very beginning and the reader is gently released from that magic web at the very end, with a very deep sigh! But her story will linger with you for days. As with all of her books - you want a sequel!

What more can I say? Kristin Hannah has fast become one of my favorite authors and her stories will leave you thinking, pondering and wondering as well as feeling good! This book is definitely a keeper and wish I could rate it with more than 5 stars! Angel Falls, On Mystic Lake and Home Again are others by Hannah, which I have read and fell in love with!

This is a story of love and hope eternal which I could not put down until I finished it. On to the next Hannah book!