Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge

I chose this book as an Early Reviewer, drawn in by the unique title of course. Don't be fooled by the title and cover like I was though: this is not Chick Lit!

The story begins on December 31, 1999 with God telling an elderly Faith to sell all her valuable/priceless belongings in a garage sale because it will be her last day on earth. Even though she hasn't talked to God since her son died twenty years ago she begins dragging everything outside and telling people to pay what they can. Word gets around her small town quickly and everyone starts showing up to see what's been inside that mansion all these years while getting a sweet deal to boot. My favorite part is when she refuses to sell a Tiffany lamp to a neighbor she has feuded with for years. If you've ever quarreled with a neighbor you probably understand why even the fear of God can't force her to mend that fence.

The fun ends quickly when it becomes clear that Faith actually has Alzheimer's disease. Her husband and son have been dead for years, and her daughter ran away with the family ring when she was a teenager. Suddenly Faith is seeing them all again as dementia clouds her mind and various items spark a memory. My favorite quote is, "'Without our memories, who are we John Jasper?' Faith's gaze wandered again. 'I'd rather not have some of my memories, and God knows it's been a small bit of grace not to remember them for long stretches of time. But good or bad, they're mine, they're who I am.'"

It was sad to read this story and consider dealing with memory loss, but the joy of the story is assessing the true value of the items we gather to make our homes.

P.S. I googled the html code to make a paragraph! If you're having the same problem as me, it can be found here.

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