Reviews
View the trailer for The Fence My Father Built
Review from CBA Retailers Magazine Oct. '09 issue
"Muri Pond aches for a real home - something she never found in her mother or stepfather or her husband who left her for another woman. As she resolves the issues threatening her family and uncovers the real reason her neighbor wants the property, Muri must find strength to face the past and present. She grows to love her father's land and his principles. She becomes the daughter of Joseph Pond. Readers trying to find their way home will relate to Muri's longing for father. They'll rejoice with her when she finds faith and the Father." ~ Kim Peterson - CBA Retailers Magazine read the full review.
"I've been a fan of Linda Clare's writing for many years and am so thrilled to see this book finally in print! Linda has an amazing voice that takes you straight to the heart of her carefully crafted characters. Her artful descriptions and clever wit will capture you into a story that you'll remember long after you close the book-- I know I did. And I hope this is just the beginning of many more novels to come. Way to go, Linda! ~ Melody Carlson, author of Dear Mom, Just Another Girl, The Other Side of Darkness, 86 Bloomberg Place, The Carter House Girls, and much more....
"A journey from fear to faith, The Fence My Father Built is about finding and honoring the road home which leads through sacred and ordinary places -- and by ordinary I mean honest and authentic. Linda Clare reminds us with her wriring that is wise, funny, and heartbreaking, that what matters most in life are the people we love and the One who game them to us." ~ Gina Ochsner, Dark Horse Literary, winner of the Oregon Book Award and the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction.
"The Fence My Father Built, is more than a story about finding your way home. It is a story about how broken lives can be pieced together again, and how secrets can be unearthed, even after the characters have departed from the scene. This story tells us that uncovering evean an unpleasant truth can be liberating because discovery is more than mere exposure: it is revelation and prophecy." read full review ~ Almira Astudillo Gilles, Reviewer of ReadWorthyBooks.blogspot.com
"Linda's fresh original writing, a captivating back drop and cast of fascinating characters make this story of colliding cultures, a dead father's honor and a daughter's bleak reality a truly compelling read." ~ Bonnie Leon, author of Enduring Love Sydney Cove Series
"With vivid descriptions and a fine sense of place, Linda Clare introduces us to a little known landscape of the high desert west. Her distinctive characters soon populate the small sagebrush dotted town, the seemingly isolated homesteads, a ranching community's ways, and our hearts. Self-discovery is not left to Muri Pond, the single mom seeking meaning in her life; each character makes a change a so do readers as the mystery of the fence is unveiled and we discover how voices from our past can transform and lead us home." ~ Jane Kirpatrick, Award-winning author of Flickering Light and All Together in One Place
"Her father, Joseph Pond, left her messages in his journal, but she didn't find them until it was too late, too late to get to know him, too late to feel his love, too late to ask him all the whys that had stockpiled over the years. Not even a grave stone marks her loss. His ashes have been sown in the wind. Muri arrives on her father's desert property to settle a simple land dispute, her teenage daughter and nine-year-old son in tow, along with all their worldly possessions. A victim of a broken marriage herself, she is about to put her children through the same ordeal, although not by choice. The land dispute proves to be not so simple, in fact nothing Muri faces is simple. The trailer is trashy and occupied by an aunt and uncle that defy description. The townspeople of Murkee, OR are closed and wary. Her daughter has turned into a venomous stranger. And nothing is as it seems. I was unable to put down this book. It held my interest to the very end. Although the faith level is low, it is the catalyst that resolves Muri's ultimate search. A very satisfying read." ~ Elisabeth H. Bantz - Author's Choice Reviews