A Thanksgiving Miracle

This novel is inspiring but not in the usual way. The people are not two-dimensional, goody-goody types. They are decent people but they are also real people. Also, there are no stereotyped villains in the piece. In real life, people make their own trouble for themselves, and so it is with the people in this story. Still, if you don't have tears in your eyes at the end of this book . . .

This book brought out every emotion I've ever felt; love, joy, sadness, anger--you name it, I felt it. I read the book twice, albeit several months apart, but enjoyed it just as much the second time as the first. Author Draughon is a natural-born story-teller. What I found absolutely amazing was how well he depicted Ruth, the heroine in the novel. There's only one other male author I've read that has this particular gift--Wally Lamb.

Although A Thanksgiving Miracle takes place around the holidays, it's a book to be read any time of year- whenever a dose of hope and a rekindling of a belief in miracles is needed. Draughon has spun a beautiful human drama through master story telling, believable characters, and a plot full of unexpected twists and turns. Without being predictable or overly 'mushy'- A Thanksgiving Miracle leaves the reader believing in the 'bigger plan' for all of us, and that indeed, miracles do happen in the most unexpected of ways.

Ruth put her daughter up for adoption some 18 years ago. Living on her own after running away from home, Ruth found herself pregnant thanks to a night of naiveté and what she felt was obligatory sex. She was in no condition to raise a child, being only a child herself really. She named the baby Heather, and handed her over to be adopted. Ever since, she'd ached to know where her little girl was. Hiring a private investigator was the first step. And he'd found her. Or at least, he'd found her adoptive family. Heather had recently run away. Once again, an 18-year-old girl was out on the road. Ruth just knew that Heather was going to end up exactly like she did...lost, confused, and pregnant. Feeling that she knew where Heather might have gone, Ruth sets out to rescue her daughter. Tracing the same path she'd taken as a runaway, Ruth revisits the highway exit ramps of Rte. 80 across Pennsylvania, facing the shadows of memories of her own experiences. The nights sleeping in the bushes on the hard ground, the days spent keeping ahead of the creeps and the cops. Will Ruth be able to catch up with Heather before it is too late? Is Heather truly following in her mother's footsteps along the highway and into hiding in New York City? This trip and the memories trigger emotional reactions in Ruth that she cannot hide from her husband. Jack knows nothing of Heather and the truth will set him on a path of distrust, despair and mourning for what he thinks is his marriage lost. Ruth confides in her cleaning lady, a young girl of 18 herself, that she is desperate to find her runaway daughter before anything terrible happens to her. Kim has her own troubles, being pregnant and unmarried, and she and Ruth form a bond over their shared pain. Do Thanksgiving miracles really happen? Will Ruth find her lost daughter, and if she does, will Heather hate her for giving her up? Will Kim keep her baby or will she make a different choice that may haunt her for life? Will Jack find a way to forgive Ruth for hiding such a huge part of her life, and is it possible for him to find his trust for her again? Will the private investigator track down Heather before her adoptive family does? Wells Earl Draughon offers a "Thanksgiving Miracle" that will touch the hearts of readers everywhere. His writing is fresh and modern, yet the values he touches on are as traditional as turkey in November. Draughon's characters are deep and distraught, leading the reader to care for them, cry with them, and hope to celebrate the holiday with them. This is a thought provoking novel that will inspire the giving of thanks for things we often take for granted...a sense of self, love and support, and family. An excellent story to read at any time of the year, "Thanksgiving Miracle" is a well written look at life, pure and complicated. Review by Heather Froeschl.

This book pulled me in on the very first page and held me on every page after that. I would have read it all in one sitting, but I wanted to make it last and relish every scene because there is so much here to like. Ruth's predicament is like one I've gone through myself. And Kim's dilemma--even though I haven't been through what she is going through, the story is so vivid and so moving, I feel that I have lived through it myself. And the way all these problems are resolved is so gratifying that it gives you a feeling of hope and makes you thankful for what you have. I'm sure I'll read this book every Thaksgiving for years to come.