An unforgettable true story that will touch your heart and make you believe in love’s enduring legacy, and in the power of prayer.

The Waiting: The True Story of a Lost Child, a Lifetime of Longing, and a Miracle for a Mother Who Never Gave Up by Cathy LaGrow and Cindy Martinusen Coloma

About this book: In 1928, 16-year-old Minka was on a picnic in the woods when she was assaulted and raped. And suddenly this innocent farm girl—who still thought the stork brought babies—was pregnant. The baby was secretly born, named Betty Jane, and given up for adoption. For decades, Minka wrote letters trying to get news of her daughter; she kept loving and praying for her, even though she never dared believe they would meet again. Until nearly eighty years later, when Minka whispered her secret, impossible prayer for the first time: Lord, I’d like to see Betty Jane before I die. I promise I won’t bother her or interrupt her life. I just want to lay eyes on her. Unbeknownst to Minka, that very same day, a judge was releasing the sealed adoption records to her 77-year-old daughter. And soon, Minka’s phone would ring. Written by Cathy LaGrow (Minka’s granddaughter), The Waiting brings three generations of this most unusual family together over the course of a century to tell a story of faith that triumphs, forgiveness that sets us free, and love that never forgets.

About the authors: (excerpted from Tyndale Media Center) In 2006, just after the birth of her first baby, Cathy LaGrow and her family learned the secret her grandmother Minka Disbrow had been carrying for almost eighty years—that at age seventeen, she’d given up a baby for adoption. Cathy’s mother is Minka’s second child, born nearly eighteen years later. Cathy began working on The Waiting in early 2012. Married for almost twenty-five years, Cathy is a licensed, non-practicing U.S. Customs broker and a piano teacher. She lives in Oregon, where she’s often found in the kitchen baking or curled up in a chair reading. An avid runner, she sometimes runs literal circles around her two small boys at the neighborhood park. This is Cathy’s debut book.

Cindy Martinusen Coloma is a national bestselling author who has written twelve novels. She is a speaker, book doctor, and writing coach. With five children ranging in age from their early twenties to a baby boy, Cindy’s life is always full of laughter, joy, and toys to trip over. She can’t own enough books or watch enough movies, has more travel dreams than possible for a human (including underwater and outer-space itineraries), but loves home best of all. She and her extended family have lived in the Redding, California area for over thirty-five years.

Genre: Non-fiction/Memoir

Would I read this book, judged on its cover alone? Though it would intrigue me, I’m not sure it would attract me enough to read it; in hindsight, however, it makes the perfect cover for this book.

If this book were a movie, I would rate it: PG, missing a G rating only because the story involves rape, PTSD, and alcoholism. The assault itself is very discreetly handled.

Reminds me of… Hmm, to be honest, this book is rather incomparable; I’ve not read anything quite like it. Hats off, btw, to Tyndale for taking the risk of publishing the memoir of an obscure woman–one with a big story to tell, sure, but in no way a celebrity. In my opinion, it was a gamble worth taking that has produced a book well-worth reading.

You’ll want to buy this book if … While I anticipate that adult women of all ages will enjoy this feel-good story, it would particularly appeal to the over-fifty crowd for its affectionate portrayal of heartland values and its nostalgic look back at the last century. Would make a great gift for mom on her next birthday, Christmas or Mother’s Day.

Why did I read this book? For Tyndale for review

Would I read another by this author? Yes. This duo of authors wrote a perfectly seamless narrative that was a joy to read.

My take: From its first chapter, this story hooked my emotions and kept me firmly on the line for every chapter thereafter. Toward the beginning, to be honest, my emotions ranged toward the negative. I found myself getting quite indignant at the childhood that belonged to Minka. She was loved, yes. But the values of her parents and her community–values imported from an austere Old World culture–made me wish I could reach through the pages and shake some of these people. (There’s a good reason for child labor laws!) Children were not valued creatures in an era not long gone. Though they were loved–and not for a minute do I believe otherwise–the startling lack of  demonstrated affection was rather hard for this modern mom to stomach.

However. Once I got past that–and of course it must be acknowledged that out of these hardships grew much of Minka’s strength and character–I could not but help to fall in love with this delightful, fascinating woman. Her story spools out beautifully, in impressive detail.

Meticulously researched, lovingly told without being saccharine, The Waiting is also a nostalgic look back at our country’s last century and the vast changes that occurred within. But the engine that keeps this story humming belongs to Minka. Even knowing how this book must end (the picture on the back cover rather gives that away), it was nonetheless a page-turner. I may have known what the conclusion would be, but then I could hardly wait to find out how. And I was not disappointed.

I loved this wonderfully hopeful, heartwarming story of love and faith. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Tyndale for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.

End notes: I was sitting in a doctor’s waiting room as I read the final pages of The Waiting…for once, hoping the doc was running late, not only to give me time to finish the book but also so that I could pull myself together. Yes, this story actually made me cry–in the best way. What was the last book you read that brought you to tears? Leave a comment on this post and you’ll have a chance to win a copy of The Waiting (thank you, Tyndale!). Trust me, you’ll not want to miss this one.

P.S. Bonus…I just received a finished copy of the book in which I see that family pictures are included. (In the ARC I read, they were not.) As I was reading Minka’s story, I was hungry for photos, to know what these people looked like, so I consider it a great add that Tyndale has included them in the final release.