Recent Reads - All the Blue of Heaven

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All the Blue of Heaven by Virginia Carmichael - Allie Hathaway fulfilled her dream of being a successful painter when she left everything in her Chicago life behind and moved to San Francisco. When her brother and his wife both died, Allie became guardian to her young niece Janey, and they continued their happy life, with Allie enjoying great success in her studio. Then the San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed everything -- their home and possessions, and Allie's paintings and studio. It also left Allie scarred physically and emotionally. So she made the difficult decision to return to her mother in Chicago to finish her recovery and find a way to continue to care for Janey.

Back in Chicago, Allie's first love, Thomas Bradford has worked hard to build a successful veterinary business, and he's become one of the city's most sought-after bachelors. After the misunderstandings that divided Allie and Thomas so many years ago, their reunion is awkward, and they both struggle with their feelings. They still love each other, but Allie fears that Thomas is only feeling sorry for her; and Thomas doesn't want Allie to feel pressured into marriage with him or anyone else. Because of course Allie's society mother is busy trying to make a suitable match for her -- and suitable doesn't necessarily mean Allie will love or even like the man chosen for her. Even worse, the 'suitable' gentlemen Allie's mother is considering are very unlikely to want Janey as part of the deal.

Most importantly, Allie needs to wrestle with her doubts and her anger with God after everything the earthquake and fire have taken from her. She needs to learn to trust God before she can accept that Thomas still loves her.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story although the negative characteristics of Allie's mother and some of the other characters seemed exaggerated to the point of not being realistic. A young lady who is vying for Thomas' attention is very jealous of Allie and is extremely spiteful when she doesn't get her way. She is an overdone stereotype of an empty-headed and mean-spirited spoiled rich girl, and towards the end of the story she takes out her anger at Allie in an extreme way that doesn't even make sense. That part of the story seemed contrived and poorly done, but other than that over-the-top character, the rest of the story-telling was quite well done. One minor point that I found irritating was the repeated use of the word "reigns" where "reins" was clearly correct. This wouldn't be so glaring except for the fact that it happened repeatedly in a story where a main character is a veterinarian that deals mainly with horses. 

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