6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent contemporary poignant drama, November 13, 2004
This review is from: If You Walked In My Shoes (Paperback)
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Leon Farrell finally persuades seventeen years old classmate Coreen Holmes to allow him to walk her home from school after several weeks of pleading. However, in an isolated locale, Leon rapes Coreen. She gives up the child for adoption.
When Frieda Davis turned twelve she had her first period and everything changed in her adoptive home. Instead of tucking her in her bed, papa rapes her. He continues to molest her until at seventeen Frieda ran away from home vowing to one day confront her biological mother.
Almost thirteen years later Frieda has made something of herself, but now stalks Coreen from afar learning that her mother led a wonderful life married to Bates Treadwell and having raised two stepsons Glen and Eric with him. As Coreen continues to do good deeds to improve society, Frieda sets in motion a plan to destroy her.
This reviewer cannot think of anyone who can write a better contemporary poignant drama than Gwynne Forster consistently does. Her latest tale borrows its title from a famous Native American saying "try walking in my moccasins" as the two lead females will learn what it is like to be the other. The story line is character driven but never dips into soap opera territory as the cast seems genuine and the ending realistic. Ms. Forster once again provides one of the most astute yet entertaining tales of the year, which is why I am a fan.
Harriet Klausner
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not her best book....., December 29, 2004
This review is from: If You Walked In My Shoes (Paperback)
I was very dissapointed when I read this book. The writing is very disjointed and the characters not developed -just plain stale. Their actions make little sense, and, frankly, I didn't care what they did. This book tackles such a serious subject and I find it hard to believe that such a story could be told without the reader becoming engrossed. Wish I had a better report......
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Secrets and Repercussions, January 11, 2005
This review is from: If You Walked In My Shoes (Paperback)
The prologue for IF YOU WALKED IN MY SHOES alerted me that there
would be a day of reckoning. Coreen Holmes was raped by one of
her classmates when she was seventeen years old, and her die was
cast. Thirteen year old Frieda Davis was sexually abused by her
adoptive father, a fate which continued for four years; until
Frieda fled into the night.
A much older Coreen Holmes Treadwell is on the brink of fulfilling
her dream as the president of the International Society of Social
and Welfare Agency. For the past 29 years she has dedicated her
time to social and welfare issues. And for that same period she has
lived behind a façade, with the fear that her darkest secret would
be unveiled. But how long does a secret remain a secret? Coreen's
fear is manifested when her past walks into her present.
Frieda needs closure to her past; her adoptive parents are deceased
and she needs to know her roots. Also embedded in her heart is the
drive to fulfill a vendetta against her biological mother. But will
her vindictive intent produce an outcome more devastating than her
past?
IF YOU WALKED IN MY SHOES is a dramatic story about two women
emotionallydamaged by violent acts, and the aftermath that
reverberated throughout their lives. The destiny of these women was
propelled by outside forces at a time when neither was mature enough
to accept the outcome. And while each chose a different way to deal
with their past, somehow that difference had an element of sameness.
Premature in their judgment about one another, things become clearer
when they share the opportunity to walk in each other's shoes. Ms.
Forster methodically highlights the emotional anguish of the
characters and the havoc the repercussions caused in Coreen and
Frieda's lives, yet it is the very havoc that served to strengthened
them. (RAWSISTAZ Rating: 4.5)
Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers
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