What on earth is wrong with Sarah? What awful thing could have happened to make this once sweet and innocent teenager, change into a detached and insufferable person seemingly overnight? These are the questions that haunt Joshua, a shy and lonely 16 year-old boy who, after hearing her name spoken in a dream one night, meets and falls in love with her. Their tumultuous journey and the mystery behind it is the basis for “The Joshua Tree”. JOSHUA PEELER, a shy, lonely 16 year old youth growing up in the Bronx, possesses a healthy respect for fate and its inevitability, but he never thinks much about it relative to his own life. Little does he know that fate is about to reveal itself to him, and in a way that would forever change the direction of his life. The setting is the Bronx, New York; the year, 1972. Joshua's asleep in his bed when he hears the name of a girl, Sarah, in a dream. Months later, through a fateful set of occurrences, he meets a beautiful girl whose name, surprisingly, is Sarah. SARAH is 16 years old and lives with her father, Frank Edwards, a domineering brute of a man whose wife walked out on him years earlier. Her leaving, and his being forced to raise their daughter alone in a Bronx project, fuels his bitterness. As a consequence, he takes much of his frustrations out on Sarah. Frank's bizarre behavior coupled with the oppressive circumstances of life at home, are a constant source of embarrassment for Sarah. A straight-A student, she's ostracized by most of her peers who she views as pathetic ghetto lifers. A self-described agnostic as well, she's methodically mapped out a future that doesn't include any of those things which she has come to loathe. Her steadfast arrogance on the matter, can't imagine anything derailing her life's goal. The one thing she hadn't counted on was love, and it blossoms quickly between her and Joshua as they each discover a commonality in each other's parochial existence. They're soon rendezvousing in secret, and aga! inst the wishes of her father. Sarah's happier than she's ever been. Then something horrific happens and in an instant, her life is turned upside down. The Joshua Tree, a novel written by first-time author, L. Steven Rencher, examines the tenuous threads of a young woman on the brink, the lengths that a committed husband and father will go to save his family, and the restorative power of love and faith when all else fails. The story begins in the south Bronx, New York in the year 1972 and spans the next several years in the lives of Joshua and Sarah, taking the reader along on a journey of discovery, heartbreak and revelation. “The Joshua Tree” is a sweeping urban love story with strong characters, and honest portrayals that are sure to please fans of both romance and drama alike.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
The Joshua Tree reads like an epic; captures the voice of youth, happiness and angst. It is a captivating read. -- Black Issues Book Review, November, 2005
From the Publisher
High school sweethearts, Joshua and Sarah have known no other loves except each other. For Joshua, though, the promise of unconditional love is sorely tested as he attempts to build a life with Sarah, even as her increasingly erratic behavior threatens to tear their young family apart. THE JOSHUA TREE, a novel written by first-time author, L. Steven Rencher, examines the tenuous threads of a young woman on the brink, the lengths that a committed husband and father will go to save his family, and the restorative power of love and faith when all else fails. It is a sweeping urban love story with strong characters, and honest portrayals that are sure to please fans of both romance and drama alike.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding,
By
This review is from: The Joshua Tree (Paperback)
This book is an opportunity no one should pass up.I will recomend it unconditionally to all my clients and friends. Steven Rencher has written a passionate lyrical book aboput a human journey. To the typical vexing problems that arrise, he brings hope and faith to create solutions.
Steven Rencher is a blessed writer that will make his mark in the community of authors worldwide. Dr. Barbara Warren San Diego, California
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful and honest.,
By Cecelia Jamison (Virginia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Joshua Tree (Paperback)
The story was beautiful because of the enduring love between Joshua and Sarah. The unusual way they met was romantic. The circumstances that drew them together were no coincidence. We should all meet our soul mate in such an unmistakable way. The story was brutally honest in its portrayal of inner city life. The depictions were realistic and the language, raw without being gratuitous. Not one scene came across as farfetched or fanciful. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this novel. The way it ends is truly inspiring. I'll never forget it.
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a blessing!!!,
By Angela R (Charlotte, North Carolina) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Joshua Tree (Paperback)
Joshua meets Sarah in a way that can only be described as divine intervention, and from there the rollercoaster ride begins. We watch like an invisible stranger as the two struggle to keep there relationship intact through crisis after crisis. The author's writing style is quite beautiful, bordering on near poetry. There's a melody to his writing and a descriptiveness that had me visualizing every scene as if I were actually there. The dialogue felt real, not forced or contrived, and the narrative delved deep into the psyches of the main characters so that you felt as though you knew them personally. But the awesomeness of this novel rests in its subject matter. To say that it's profound is an understatement. It's inspired! Fate, spirituality, physical and emotional abuse, drugs, adultery, the consequences of neglect, it's all captured in the pages of this book. And the driving force that holds it all together is LOVE; Joshua's love for Sarah and Andre; Clara's love for all of them. There were certain scenes that touched my spirit like nothing I've ever read before. I wasn't the same after finishing this book. I was truly blessed by The Joshua Tree, especially once I understood the significance of the title. I'm sure you will be blessed too. I hope this review was helpful to you.
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