A Thousand Voices

This is the fifth book in the Tending Roses series. Del Jordan a child from the world of poverty and neglect, is adopted at the age of 13 by a very loving and caring couple. But there is still an emptness deep inside of her. Now Del is 20 and is very passionate about music, but after high school she toured Europe with a musical exchange student group because she wanted to postpone applying at Julliard School of Music. The emptiness that she feels is because her biological mother abandoned her and she wondered who her biological father is. All she knows of her father is his name on her birth certificate and the thought he is American Native. When she returned from Europe she travelled to the Kiamichi Mountains where a large tribe of Choctaws live. There she meets many members of this tribe who befriend her and help her with the search for her heritage.She learns much about herself while she is with them, Sure hope another book to continue this series is in the making, Lisa Wingate is one of my favorite authors. If you love stories that bring you right into the middle of the characters lives and you feel that you really know them this is the author you need.

With a voice as authentic and finely penned as any I have read, the author tells a tale that is both achingly sad and quietly triumphant. A Thousand Voices, written by Lisa Wingate, is a skillfully crafted book filled with the language of poets and the heart--simply, yet beautifully told. " She (Grannie) said every bird in the air came from a thought of God, and so did I.... It's a powerful thing to realize you were put in this world on purpose. It changes the way you feel about everything." The story of conflicted young woman, filled with love for her adoptive parents, yet longing to know her Native American heritage, A Thousand Voices elegantly expresses the complexity of a journey from love, through fear and disappointment and back again. A Thousand Voices is one of my favorite kinds of books--it teaches without teaching. For those of us who haven't experienced the pain of not belonging often felt by adoptees, Wingate provides more than information, more than an education. In Dell Jordan, the author gives us someone we can love. And love changes us forever. Dell personalizes the angst of adoption, the bigotry felt by Native Americans, the longing for roots that many of us take for granted-and I love her for that. It's said we all need roots and wings. I think that may be true for books as well. And A Thousand Voices has both. It's rooted in honest feelings and soars on wings of faith and compassion. The rare experience this book delivers-- to be entertained, educated, and fall in love--is what we all hope for every time we open the pages of a new book. Armchair Interviews says: Want great writing filled with emotions, this 5-star story is for you.

I'm sorry, but I cannot say goodbye. The characters that Lisa Wingate introduced us to in Tending Roses deserve to continue....especially Dell, who is by far the most interesting character in the whole series. What happens next to Dell? How will she help others grow? Where will she end up to form her own family? There are still too many questions left unanswered. Lisa, please continue on with this series. Your rich characters deserve more attention.

In this last of the "Tending Roses" series, Lisa Wingate has written a lovely goodbye from characters that we have come to know and love. Dell, now 20, longs to connect with her half Choctaw Native American heritage and goes in a spur of the moment search to Oklahoma searching for roots in a biological father and family she has never known. As in all journeys for truth, Dell finds this a long, twisting path, meeting the present tribe members while learning of their proud, but beleagured past. "The trails of tears" march crippled this noble lot, but they persevered and remain strong and proud. Paradoxically, Dell's own trip is filled with tears, disappointment, but also success in finding her strength of character. Beautifully written, her struggles carry the reader along, laughing when she laughs, crying when she crys, feeling release when she feels release. The story is a very cathertic event; it was especially poignant to this reader as one who can identify with the need to understand the past in order to accept the present. I have loved this series so saying good-bye is difficult, but Lisa Wingate made the process so rewarding that it is a bitterweet parting. Each novel progressed in style, form, prose and storyline, which is every reader's hope. Ms. Wingate deserves congratulations on gifting us five books that reaped realization, understanding, acceptance and most importantly Love. Love of oneself, and of the Creator who knew from our conception that their is reason and purpose for each existance. I look with great anticipation to her next work.

In Kansas, Dell Jordan was adopted by loving mentoring parents when she was thirteen years old. Her new family encouraged her to study music and she proved to be very talented. After high school Dell toured Europe playing with an orchestra and performed humanitarian volunteer work in the Ukraine. Coming home to Kansas after over a year abroad, a scholarship to Juilliard awaits the nineteen year old. However, Dell has issues that her work at the Ukrainian orphanage has her pondering. She needs to know why her biological mother deserted her and who sired her. She travels to Oklahoma as she knows her father is a member of the Choctaw Nation. In the Sooner State, Dell meets the Reids and is especially attracted to widower Jace Reid, a history teacher raising two young children. Dell's quest keeps the tale focused as she (and readers) learns much about the modern day Choctaw Nation. Her attraction to Jace and his kids enhance her quest to know who she comes from as she admires the teacher for being a single parent raising his children with love. Lisa Wingate provides a warm character study of a fully developed individual seeking her roots. Harriet Klausner