Customer Reviews

Seasons Under Heaven (Seasons Series #1)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Seasons Under Heaven was one of the best Christian novels I have ever read. It was so well written and it gripped my heart from the first page to the last. Seasons Under Heaven is the aptly named novel by Terri Blackstock and Beverly LaHaye.

4 families, who are close neighbors on the quiet, suburban cul-de-sac Cedar Circle, are each in their own way going through their own Seasons Under Heaven.

Tory Sullivan, want-to-be writer is the stay-at-home mother of two preschoolers who have definitely altered her ambitions and goals. Brittany and Spencer require a lot of time and effort, as all children do, and husband Barry wants the best for his children and happiness for Tory. Can Tory re-prioritize and still be happy?

Sylvia Bryan is trying to rediscover her purpose in life. The strong woman is feeling especially vulnerable and has a bad case of the empty nest syndrome since her children are grown and gone. Her husband, Harry, a prominent cardiac surgeon, is just the opposite. He has felt God's call to become a medical missionary. He's left it up to Sylvia to answer, though, and she's not sure what she could possibly have to offer.

Cathy Flaherty is a single mother who works outside the home and is trying to raise three children, one a rebellious teenager, on her own. The local school has gotten her attention and she feels the need to face the school board. Will she push her children away? Lonely, she would love to find someone to share her life with and become a positive influence in the lives of her children. How can she raise the kids, work, fight the school board and still be just "Cathy"?

The Sullivan, Bryan, and Flaherty problems all pale in comparison to the Dodds. Brenda and David Dodd seem to have such stability and happiness in their lives. The parents of four precious children, they devote their lives to them. Brenda homeschools all of them so she can give them the upbringing she feels they wouldn't get elsewhere. David is self-employed and works at home and assists her however he can. Although they are not "rich", their basic needs are met and they are happy. This all changes in a matter of moments, when one the children becomes gravely ill. How can they cope with the suffering of their son? How will they pay the bills? Brenda and the children are confident the Lord will provide for them, but can she keep encouraging herself and her son when her husband, due to traumatic childhood events, refuses to believe in the God Brenda so desperately loves and needs?

The families of Cedar Circle unite and share the burden of young Joseph's illness. Page after page is filled with the support and dedication to the Dodd's the other families have. They reach out in ways they never knew they could, and find out that from laughter to tears, from encouragement to fear, all the Seasons Under Heaven can be faced.

The novel contained one important truth that rang so loudly to me: Invest the best of your time and your love into your children and your family. Never take for granted the time you have with them.

The exciting plot was a page-turner from beginning to end. And it left a lot of room to expand on each and every character. A sequel would definitely wrap up some unanswered questions, and you can be sure that if one is written it will be the five star novel this one is.

I decided to read this book simply because it introduces book two in the series which I was especially interested in! However, I became interested as I met the four families who live in an upper middle class cul-de-sac in eastern Tennessee. They are in various seasons in their lives.

The Dodds are a family with four children who are home-schooled and both parents stay and work at home full time. Although they seem to be the ideal, all American family, there are problems. She is a believer in God, he is not, due to emotional trauma he suffered as a child. At the heart of this book is the sudden illness of their 9 yr. old son. He ends up in the hospital awaiting a heart transplant and his Mom and Dad differ on how to best help him.

The Sullivans are a couple with two preschoolers in a family which consists of a hard working husband and a slim, fit, rather obsessive, frustrated writer-wife. She has read so many self-help books she is phobic. She keeps an impeccably clean house, but she hates her role as a stay at home, unfulfilled wife and mother. The last straw was when she SAW a bestseller book on the library shelf that contained the same plot as the book she was currently writing! In anger she destroyed her manuscript and declared she was finished with writing - forever.

The Flaherty family is headed by a single Mom who is a veterinarian. She has her hands full with three active, older kids, and a chip on her shoulder because she was dumped for a younger woman. Dating is completely awkward to her and she wonders if it is really worth it and feels like forgetting it. She has problems with the school's sex education classes and is willing to fight all the way to the school board. She is particularly upset with her inability to reach and control her 15 yr. old terribly rebellious daughter.

The Bryans are an older Christian couple whose children have all moved out. She is lonely and feels useless, he is a cardiac surgeon with a consuming call on his heart to missions. These two are a sort of surrogate Mom and Dad to the other couples in their area.

The book blends the lives of these four families in quite a remarkable way. While each family's life is intertwined and each has their own crises, the thing that pulls them together for a common purpose is the life threatening situation with 9 yr. old Joseph Dodd. Heart transplants aren't cheap, and even with insurance paying part of the bill, the Dodd family is staring at up to $35,000 out of pocket. They put their house up for sale. Not wanting to lose their good neighbors, the other families on the cul-de-sac work to raise the needed funds. This, along with the illness, changes their lives forever.

The saddest part of the book is when young Joseph goes into a coma just before he is given up for dead. No heart has been found, and he cannot last more that a few hours at the most. It is a dark, emotional and frightening night at the hospital. But, what eventually happens to the child is a surprise which makes the book worth the read. Changes occur in all the families, and decisions are cemented which will change their lives forever.

This is a contemporary, Christian fiction book about four families that could live in Any City, USA, and I recommend it highly.

I couldn't put this book down.This is the story of 4 women with very different lives who live in a cul-de-sac. The writing was so honest I felt like I knew these women. They all try to help when one of the children needs a heart transplant.This is not a sad or preachy book. It shows how faith works in peoples lives. I have also read their second book which I also highly recommend. I hope these authors are working on a third book.I'll be first in line to get it!

Seasons Under Heaven took me less than 3 hours to read--this is symbolic of the high interest level it creates! With trying to cover 4 families' stories in under 350 pages, you would THINK that the character development would be poor. Think again, because it's not! The authors did a superb job of including only the necessary details to give the reader a vivid picture of life in each household as well as WHY things are as they are. Seasons Under Heaven was well-written and keeps the reader's interest throughout the book.

A beautifully written book that tells the story of four women, all in different stages of their lives. The way the women befriended and mentored each other was a wonderful example for all of us. I learned so much about myself and about the way I care for my own family by reading this book and I look forward to the next in the series.

These two women should write more books! When I received this book as a gift, I thought ho-hum, I'll read it after I've read a few other more interesting books. I picked it up the next day and couldn't put it down! This book encourages you to reevaluate your life real fast. First, if you take your children for granted, don't. They are a blessing from God and we should be grateful for every second that we have them. Ditto for our husbands, whether they leave wet towels all over or not! :) I'd like to rave about this more, but I don't want to spoil the plot and the relationships between the characters. Buy one for yourself and one for your sister who is always griping.

Seasons Under Heaven gave the best of so many different worlds. First, you saw the benefits of raising your children in a Godly home (even with only one saved parent). Then, you saw the results of one who did not look to God for guidance in rearing children. Next you got a glimpse of what it's like to have already made the decision to be a stay-at-home-mom and regret it. Last there was the chance to really get to know a mature woman of faith, who had already raised her children, and was so incredibly human. I am a huge fan of Terri Blackstock and this collaboration was one that I think should continue. Thank you ladies for teaching one who does not yet have children to look carefully to God for His guidance in raising them.

I just finished this book last night, but it only took me two nights to complete it. I couldn't put it down. Being a Christian mom myself, I couldn't help but identify with the struggles of the women in this book. The book focused on the faith that the women had in the seasons of their life - faith that God was in control and that He would see them through no matter what. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about faith in action - no matter what season of life you find yourself in.

You know a book is good when you feel so much a part of the storyline that you are actually experiencing right along with the characters. That is what happened in this book! I cried with them and felt like I was walking right beside them.

LaHaye and Blackstock paint such wonderful pictures of the neighborhood, and developed characters that are so realistic I wanted to be their friends.

I loved the message of God's grace, mercy, and blessings. And really appreciated the count your blessings in the face of adversity lesson.

Very Well Done!

Like the other reviewers, I couldn't put this book down. I loved the story, but it had even more meaning to me since I am a heart/lung transplant recipient. Many stories about transplants or organ donation distort the facts; these authors obviously did their homework. All the details about the transplant and organ donation itself are right on the mark.

If you or anyone in your family has had a transplant, this book may hit too close to home, just like the movie, "Return to Me"; however, I still recommend it highly. As one reviewer said, it's not the Mitford series, but it is still a good story about Christion women supporting each other.

I'm glad to see there is a sequel!