Sunrise on the Battery

Beth Webb Hart
2011
Thomas Nelson
Fiction/Contemporary

Two kids make it good in the high society of Charleston.  Mary Lynn and Jackson Scoville were kids from a small town who were at the bottom of the 'food chain' so to speak.  But Jackson had the smarts to know how to make money and he was determined, his children would have more, have a better education than him.  So he pushed, and he pushed them hard.  Too hard Mary Lynn often worried.  Where was the time for them to just be kids? 
Her own feelings of emptiness leads Mary Lynn to seek out the peace she felt in church as a child.  After a miraculous healing of the calf muscle in her leg, Mary Lynn is more convinced that more than anything her family needs God.  When Jackson finds God however Mary Lynn is not sure this is what she meant.  He as he does with everything has gone 'overboard' and just seems like a weird Jesus freak. 
I enjoyed this book, it took me a bit to get going with it, but once I got into the story I enjoyed it very much.  It was easy to relate to the Scoville's, who doesn't want better for their children?  A great story that you will not want to miss reading.  4 stars 276 pages US $15.99

This book was provided for review purposes only no payment was received for this review.

Press Release from B & B Media Group:

Radical Faith Brings about Radical Change

Beth Webb Hart explores what happens when

                                                      we leave our inhibitions behind.

 What would it look like if we really loved each other—if we had no inhibitions about sharing our faith and our very lives with a hurting world? How would we really spend our time and our money? And what impact would this have on our own families, especially our children? What impact would it have on our communities, our country and the world? These are the questions that first inspired Beth Webb Hart to write her newest novel, Sunrise on the Battery.

Hart always begins her writing with a question, and she was inspired with these questions after reading David Platt’s book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. His book uncovered blind spots in her own life and helped her fully imagine just where her characters’ uninhibited faith might take them.

Mary Lynn Scoville has everything anyone could desire—a handsome husband, three beautiful daughters and a ticket into the social elite of Charleston, S.C. But after a miraculous answer to a prayer on her behalf, Mary Lynn decides to pray that her husband will discover the faith she loves. But when her prayers are answered, she finds her world turned upside down and is forced to deal with the idols she has created in her own life.

Jackson Scoville is a man on a mission. Growing up deprived of the finer things in life, he wants more for his children. His mission is to give his girls the best—a top-rate education, exposure and immersion in the fine arts and frequent opportunities to see the big wide world. “Not just education, baby—cultivation,” he is known to say. But when he discovers the truth of Scripture, his focus takes a quick turn—a turn his family may not like.

While writing about the lives of Mary Lynn, Jackson and their daughters, Hart shows her readers how God can change a life and inspire a family. She draws her readers into the story, especially with her intricate details of the social culture of Charleston. Her characters will shine a reflection on her readers’ own struggles and fears, and they will be inspired to examine their own lives and discover what really matters.

According to Publisher’s Weekly, “Hart writes inspirational fiction that leaves readers pondering the subtly expressed life lessons well after the final chapter. She manages to make even the unlikely a real possibility in this richly written tale of discovering faith.” So come along as the Scoville family discovers their new family mission—a mission that will change their world and the world around them.