I heard about Felicia Ferguson’s novel The Choices She Made from the author herself. We were standing in the lunch line at the Blue Ridge Christian Writer’s Conference, and she was excited to share that it was up for a Selah Award. Of course, I asked about it, so she went on to share the synopsis. I’m always impressed when an author can quickly articulate her/his entire story in two minutes. In the writing world, it’s called an elevator pitch. The idea is that if you happen onto an elevator with a publisher or editor, you’re able to pitch your book in the limited time between floors. Or really, in any situation that a writer has limited time. I’ve never mastered this. When someone asks me to describe my book, I mutter and ramble a lot. Not at all impressive.
This dual timeline novel opens in Blue Springs, Texas, March 1997 in the aftermath of seventeen-year-old Madeline Williams’ sexual assault. The author does a great job of putting the reader in the character’s mind right at the start. Short, stilted, confusing descriptions of the time and place as she comes to in a stall at the auction house where her dad is conducting ranch business.
The other timeline takes place in May 2011 as Madeline navigates single parenthood to her twelve-year-old daughter, Georgia. It’s clear from the beginning that Madeline gets pregnant as a result of the rape and raises her daughter, so there is no spoiler alert here. One might assume the “choice” in the title is regarding what Madeline would do when she discovers she’s pregnant—adoption, abortion, or keep the baby. It goes deeper than that. It’s how her decisions affect the other people in her life—her widowed father, boyfriend, and daughter.
Each chapter jumps from one timeline to the next, which allows the reader to walk through the story along with Madeline and Georgia. It’s not an action-packed read—more like slow walk through the ins and outs of the main character’s life. It’s a story of redemption, forgiveness, and the lengths a mother will go to protect her child.
As it turned out, Felicia’s novel did place in the Selah Awards—I believe it came in second for her category, although I was rooting for first. There are a couple of minor things I want to point out—maybe a little nitpicky. First off, I’m a numbers person, and the numbers in this one didn’t add up. It’s stated on several occasions that Georgia is twelve years old in the “present” timeline of 2011. However, she was born in December of 1997. No matter how you work the numbers, that adds up to Georgia’s age being thirteen rather than twelve.
My only other nitpicky issue was with one particular scene. Madeline is with her dad and Georgia in the stables. Georgia wants to have a private conversation with her grandpa, so Madeline turns her back and pretends she’s not listening. Not only does this feel unrealistic (a twelve-year-old is going to know Mom is right there), but Madeline also describes Georgia’s facial expressions, eyes, etc. Like I said—nitpicky. Most readers wouldn’t give it a second thought.
I applaud Felicia Ferguson for tackling a sticky issue and doing it with such grace and artistry. I highly recommend this book. You can purchase it here, or it’s also available on Kindle Unlimited.
Four out of five stars.
Comments 2
Thank you for sharing. I put this one on my TBR.
Looks like The Choices She Made is worth a read. It’s hard to write (and sometimes read) about tricky subjects like this one, but this review describing it as being done with class makes me want to read it. Thank you!