Customer Reviews

A Season of Grace

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I stayed up until midnight to finish this book. I cried and felt with the characters from beginning to end. Although this is a fictional story - it seemed real to me with the knowledge of the increasing occurence of AIDS in our society.

Colleen, the main character, showed me what real love is all about. As she became stronger through trials, I grew in my understanding of Grace. The Christian perspective was wonderful! This book will touch many lives! The characters were so real that I feel that I have actually lived through this with them.

To watch all of the family members react to AIDS in their family was a study of our society today. This is a good book for all family members to read - old and young. I challenge everyone to read this informative book! Kudos to the author! and Thanks!

Colleen Payton is delighted when her brother, Stephen MacLaughlin, shows up out of the blue for their mother's birthday. Her twin has been estranged from his family for years over his alternative lifestyle, and after a disagreement at the party, he storms out. Colleen, determined not to lose him again, drives from her small town in Oregon to his Seattle home --- and finds out a truth she wasn't prepared for: Stephen is very ill with the AIDS virus.

After dealing with the emergency at hand (Bette Nordberg is a former registered nurse and therapist --- not only are her scenes of caregiving accurate, they're also fast-paced and interesting), Colleen decides to bring Stephen back to her own home. But there are so many problems: Colleen doesn't consult her husband Kevin, nor does she talk to their two teenaged children. She also ignores the fact that her brother neither shares her Christian faith nor wants to do so. Most of all, Colleen has spent a lifetime pushing away her family members --- and a personal secret that is tearing her up inside.

Few authors, Christian or not, are willing to confront terminal illness honestly and lovingly. Yes, lovingly: for although Colleen faces all manner of criticism, from her husband to her son to her fellow parishioners, her care for Stephen takes over every aspect of her being. Whether she is waiting patiently in a doctor's office for him or trying to decide what he'll want for lunch, Colleen is the very model of a modern caregiver.

Nordberg does not let this dwindle into a heartwarming tale of footrubs and hospital vigils. There's a much bigger issue at stake. For some authors, that issue would be Stephen's sexual preference. Nordberg does deal with this, deftly weaving in details from Stephen's life (his companion's earlier death from the same illness, his childhood feelings about being different, etc.) along with reminders that modern Christians have fundamental disagreements with homosexuality. There is never a question in the novel that Colleen or anyone in her community believes Stephen's lifestyle is the best choice.

However, Nordberg is also too sensitive a storyteller not to realize that the biggest issue --- of faith --- needs to be tackled, and Colleen would never have to confront her own demons if she were simply allowed to change bedding and shed tears. Her controversial decision to bring Stephen to her home forces her to own up to why having him there is so important to her. The truth, once revealed, frees up her energies to remember that God is present even in the midst of this grief and pain. And if He is present, what does that mean? What does it offer?

Surprise, surprise: there are no easy answers. But there are easier and more meaningful communications once Colleen, Kevin, and their family have come to recognize that faith lived out in the smallest ways can have an impact. All too often, stories of conversion and of fatal illness can be tedious. This book is neither; it's engaging, intelligent and compassionate.

--- Reviewed by Bethanne Kelly Patrick

This book was so good at showing how Gods grace will get you through your trials.
It was great how Bette was able to portray someone who has aids and how all the different family members react to it, Live with and learn from it. The fact that it was twins threw in another aspect that made it an excellent read. As well as using it to minister to someone who is in need whether they have aids or not.

Bette Nordberg does a exemplary job accurately portraying all the push/pulls between loved ones whose lives have taken a very different course than our own. With skillful phrasing and geniune heartfelt passion, Bette finds the balance between compassion and truth. I closed the last page of this book with a grateful sigh that Bette tackled such a difficult subject with so much care and grace.

Bette Nordberg has done it again!!

Of the four books I've read written by Bette, Season of Grace is my favorite. There's no doubt that she spent many hours not only researching but also putting her heart and soul into writing this novel about an extremely sensivite topic.

The main character, Colleen Payton, taught me a great deal about love, compassion, perseverance and hope. When she finds that her twin brother, Stephen, has been stricken with AIDS, not once does she turn her back on him. The guidance and inner strength that she receives through her faith in God is a marvelous example for me.

I highly recommend Season of Grace. This page turner novel can't help but impact your life as it did mine.

This is a great book telling about the trials and heartaches associated with AIDS. The book is written in first person by the twin sister of a gay man with AIDS. While this is a touchy subject, the author tells the story so well no one should be able to find offense with it, other than possibly the gay community. It does have a Christian slant in that it speaks of homosexuality as being wrong and the AIDS victim becomes saved in the end. A very moving account of one (fictious) family's struggle with AIDS.

Story Description:

With candor and compassion, Silver Angel award-winning writer Bette Nordberg explores the struggles and heartaches associated with homosexuality and AIDS to create a gripping novel that reveals the comfort of a personal relationship with Jesus. Colleen is wary when her brother Stephen arrives, but she refuses to dwell on his homosexuality. After a family fight, Stephen angrily leaves. Colleen follows him, discovers he has AIDS, and invites him to live with her family. As Stephen's illness progresses, Colleen encounters fear, prejudice, and judgments from "it's a shame" to "God is punishing Stephen." Slowly Colleen considers a new answer. Maybe AIDS isn't a condemnation. Perhaps God has granted Stephen time to evaluate his life and discover the love of the Master Healer.

My Review:

If you don`t completely understand the true meaning of `grace' in the context of your faith, you will by the time you`ve finished reading this novel.

Colleen hasn`t seen her twin brother, Stephen, for years until he shows up at Colleen`s house for their mother`s birthday party. Stephen has been away from his family due to disagreements over his alternative lifestyle and after another disagreement at the party he storms out of the house and goes home. Colleen is terribly upset and vows not to lose Stephen again and hops into her car and drives across the state to his home. Once there she finds out Stephen`s truth - he has the AIDS virus.

Colleen brings Stephen back to her home and eventually invites him to stay and live with her family so she can care for him. However, Colleen didn`t ask her husband, Kevin, or their two teenage kids how they felt about Stephen living with them. Travis, Colleen`s son doesn`t even want to be in the same room as his Uncle and Kevin questions her allowing Stephen to help bake Christmas cookies. The family`s fears about AIDS are depicted so well and pretty much mirror image how a lot of people in society today still view AIDS patients even with all the education that has been done. I think there will always be some type of stigma attached to AIDS and some will never feel comfortable with it.

Even in her church, Colleen faces criticism from fellow parishioners, including one woman who gets up, turns off the keyboard Colleen just finished playing on, and proceeds to clean every single white key, black key, and all other buttons before she herself would play it. Can you even begin to imagine how that would make you feel if you were in Colleen`s shoes?

Not only is AIDS a huge part of this story but so is faith. Colleen has a secret that her family knows nothing about and I think that held her back from really participating in her conversations with God and her ability to hunker down and feel totally at peace. But her decision to move Stephen into her own home basically forces her to delve deep into why she "really" brought him there and why it is so important for her to care for Stephen in his final days.

We need to remember that God allows us to experience grief and pain because it is a gift and through that we learn the true meaning of grace.

A Season of Grace would have been a difficult book to write I would imagine, but Ms. Nordberg handled it with grace, humility, and great compassion. This is more than just a novel it's a lesson, an opportunity to learn. Unconditional love is a great thing! I would highly recommend that everyone read this novel.

At the time he showed up on her doorstep, Colleen hadn't heard from her twin brother for many years While she knew he was gay, she being a Christian, wanted Stephen to become one and change his lifestyle. Not feeling accepted, that only helped serve to drive him from her and her God.

At their mother's birthday celebration dinner, after their mother criticizes their sister Carrie, she then turns to Stephen and finds fault with him. She angers him and he leaves, driving back home to Seattle across the State from Colleen. After not returning several phone calls to him, Colleen drives to his house where she accidently discovers that he has AIDS.

That's pretty much where the story really begins. And what she does with this discovery. A Season of Grace deals with how others handle this disease and their reactions. It deals with compassion, losing one's independence, and of course, AIDS and its complications.

What I found rather annoying during the first half of the book was Colleen's constant reminders that she and he were twins as though somehow neither the reader or the book's other characters "got" that.

What I found missing was her lack of frustration with what her life had become because of what she had taken on. It's like she was fine with it and had no complaints, no frustrations. While her husband had fears as to how the disease could affect him and their children, he got over them quickly, while she had no fears about that. Not quite realistic, I'm thinking.

The reader can come to understand that our choices have consequences, some more obvious and painful than others. I find it interesting how Christians label the gay lifestyle as a worse sin than say adultery. Just a thought...

I rather liked this book. I particularly liked Gloria and Noah.

This book is absolutely wonderful. It is very well written and shows how we should handle the illness of AIDS with dignigy. Well done, Bette!

A wonderful, humorous and poignant book about letting go of our own vain efforts and letting God reach the lost. It reminds us all that only God can speak to each person's heart and bring them to Himself. Be ready to laugh, cry, and enjoy this excellent book!