She's in a Better Place

The Fairlawn Series has been wonderful, and Angela wrapped it up with the best book last. I don't know the words to tell you how good it was- I was so drawn in! I laughed, I cried, and I did not want this book to end. Thank you Ms. Hunt, you are truly an artist with words!

This series was excellent read. I love Angela Hunt books, and this series is a really good one for mature readers who can appreciate the many different chapters in our lives. The handling of writing about a funeral home was informative, but done with a spiritual aspect toward death. I highly recommend this series.

I TRIED to make myself read just a little bit of this book last night. I knew that I was going to love it, because Angela Hunt has never let me down. She is consistently one of the best writers in the Christian fiction field. This series, especially, is one of the best I've read, and I wanted to draw out the enjoyment. I read five chapters, put the book down, walked into the kitchen, fixed a cup of coffee and read until the wee hours...when I finished the entire book. The continuing tale of Jennifer Graham, funeral director and struggling mom of two young boys, is as gripping in this book as it is in the previous two Fairlawn entries, and the characters in her life are loaded with equal parts pathos and humor. Gerald, Jen's dear friend and the man who taught her that being a funeral director can be a ministry, has more play in this book than he did in the others, and we get to learn more about his life before he came to Mt. Dora and the Fairlawn Funeral Home. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a friend and mentor like Gerald in his or her life. The humor in the series is as sharp as ever, most notably in the storyline about a woman who feels like her family consistently takes her for granted, so she plans her own `living funeral.' Makes perfect sense, right? She just wants to hear the nice things people will say about her while she CAN still hear. It's proof positive of the author's talent that the humor in the character's vignette is wrapped around a very real pain - that overwhelming sense that we don't matter to the people who should honor us the most. I remember reading an essay many years ago that maintained one of the things we've lost in our particular culture is an intimacy with death. Time was that the family, most often the women, frequently cared for their people one last time when they died. They bathed them and dressed them in their best clothes, preparing them to be seen and touched one last time by the people who loved them. Oddly, I've wondered if there isn't something to envy about that loss, that opportunity to be a caregiver for someone one last time. This series, showcasing how Jennifer and Gerald minister to the families who have lost someone, treating the bodies of the deceased with respect and dignity, reminds me of that essay. Where one might expect to be repulsed by the details of the embalming, dressing, and make-up application for the deceased, instead there is an echo of that earlier time when the mothers, sisters, aunts lovingly bathed and dressed their families. It's calming and fascinating at the same time, and I truly appreciate that the Originator of all inspiration chose to inspire Angela Hunt with the idea of a small-town funeral home. The series is fantastic, and this book by itself is a wonder.

Expect the unexpected is Angela Hunt's brand and boy, is it on target. I laughed and cried reading this book. The characters are rich, the story is great, and the setting is unexpected. Some wild things happen in this mortuary, and it made me wish I could have seen Hunt researching it and the faces of the people she questioned. Angela Hunt doesn't serve up a single cliché, whether in writing or storyline. I'm not going to tell you anything about the story, other than it's a great book, well worth your time reading. She's in a Better Place would make a fantastic movie and I highly recommend it.

This was a book I did not want to begin reading because I KNEW that when I finished it, I'd feel bookless. As long as I put off starting it, I knew that I had a treasure waiting. I was correct. It's the third book in the Fairlawn series, and I loved it. Angela Hunt has the ability to write a trilogy so that each book can be read alone and understood perfectly; however, when all are read in order, a deeper experience awaits the reader. I've finished this third in the series now, and I feel like a spoiled child, stamping my feet. I don't want this series to finish--ever! I want to move to Mt. Dora and have lunch with Jen! I want to join the ladies and Joella at the Biddle House for a bit of talk; maybe I'll even put on a red hat! I want to watch Kristen grow into the woman God intends. In other words, the characters have come alive for me. This author teaches with her writing. There are so many details; her research amazes me. With this series, I have learned a good bit about the funeral industry, and gained a sense of appreciation for the work of people like Gerald and Jennifer. Angela Hunt aptly handles what could be a touchy subject and makes pleasurable reading. The story takes the reader along to a convention for people in the industry. All sorts of tips are given. Why, I even learned how to apply mascara! In addition to learning, this volume contains other things that appeal to readers. There's a need for tissues because of the tears. There's romance. There's humor. (The Living Funeral is hysterical.) I cannot recommend this series high enough. The author is at her peek! Although I have many other books waiting to be read, there are no more Angela Hunt books waiting for me. So I'm bookless. Now what?