Meggie Brooks - a Review

I found Meggie Brooks, written by Daphne Woods, to be an extraordinarily well-written novel. The romance, mystery, humor, crises, Christian and conservative apologetics that it contains grabbed my interest and kept my housework from getting done. This book kept me entranced until the very last page. The plots and subplots are skillfully woven together as Meggie's journey into adulthood is followed. While a six-year-old child, her life seems idyllic while growing up a member of the perfect family in rural New Jersey. But is all as perfect as it appears?

As a child, Meggie overhears conversations at her grandmother’s house that lead her to believe that the lives of some of the other members of her family might not be as perfect as hers. Over time just how dysfunctional the other members of her family are is revealed to her.

Meggie’s parents are very well educated people. They send their little girl to public school, but also add to her learning by teaching her at home. Through her parents’ teaching, Meggie learns to search for the facts, not just to accept the popular or public opinion.

Meggie is a good student and very intelligent, but begins to encounter political correctness, even in grade school The only trouble she has in school comes from encountering this political correctness in the classroom, both from the teachers and the other students. When she stands up for the facts that she has found to be true through in-depth research, as she did when learning about the Pilgrims and the Indians and when being taught about global warming, she is ridiculed, hushed and ignored. She decides to become a lawyer with the purpose of defending free speech rights for everyone.

Meggie encounters love when she first attends Princeton. Unfortunately she falls for a guy who is basically full of himself. He realizes that he is very attractive to women and uses it to his full advantage. Meggie is new to this kind of attention from one of the opposite sex, especially one so good looking. At first, she becomes involved with him even though her better judgment is telling her that she shouldn’t. In the end, her better judgment wins out and she ends the relationship before she gives away the most precious part of herself. This wrong relationship does have its consequences, though.

Later on she does truly fall in love. Meggie and Clark’s courtship would make a wonderful love story all on its own, but mixed in with the rest of the happenings in this novel, it is as satisfying as a good glass of wine. There are some steamy love scenes, but they show that people can actually restrain themselves from "going all the way", or even go beyond kissing, when they want to remain pure until marriage.

Throughout her time in college, Meggie learns to speak up and defend the truth, not just to her classmates and teacher, but also to the media. She knows what is right and will not back down from it, no matter what it looks like it will cost her.

If you have a conservative, Christian outlook on life, then you will greatly enjoy this book sent to me free of charge by the author. If you have a liberal, politically correct outlook on life, then you may not enjoy this book so much. Still, I would recommend that everyone read this awesome work of literature. Daphne Woods writes gracefully, each word flowing on to the next. I have only one warning - if you don’t have a good vocabulary, you may find yourself needing a dictionary while you read.

This uplifting and entertaining book deals with issues that are relevant and contemporary while promoting true Christianity in this modern day and age. This book makes you think about all of the issues in this world, such as abortion, the war in Iraq and the rights of Christians. The time it took to read the 511 pages of this book was time well spent. Daphne Woods, the author of this amazing book, graciously sent me a copy, free of charge, to read and review. If you would like to obtain your own copy of this book, I have provided a link below for you to purchase it through Amazon.