The Choices She Made by Felicia Ferguson is a novel of difficult choices. A young woman pregnant by her rapist makes several very hard decisions — to not press charges, to go through with the pregnancy, to keep her baby, and to let the young man she loves go. The novel alternates between the past and present, all through main character Madeline’s eyes. Are the sacrifices good or even necessary? Is the choice the best for the situation? It is interesting to see how every choice Madeline makes affects her and others futures’. I liked this book, although I wouldn’t call it an easy read. There are tough issues and tough outcomes. But the truths of God’s power, trustworthiness, and sovereignty shine through. The Choices She Made will certainly make you think — exactly what a book like this should do.
Recommended.
Audience: late teens to adults.
(I received a copy of the book through Kindle Unlimited. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
In 1997, seventeen-year-old Madeline Williams is torn between continuing her family ranching legacy and accepting her Army-bound boyfriend’s marriage proposal.
But when an assault by John David Billings, the son of a wealthy rancher, leaves her pregnant, Madeline sacrifices both options, choosing to leave town and raise the child alone.
It’s been several years, and when she returns to her hometown to meet with her father, rumors circulate about John David’s trial–for assaulting other women. Madeline struggles with the secret she’s kept from her daughter–and everyone but her father–all of these years.
If she testifies, John David could be put away for good. Doesn’t help that he’s hired a killer lawyer, and it would take a testimony like hers just to put him behind bars. But if she unveils her past, that could have some dangerous repercussions for her daughter.
She has trusted God throughout her entire life, but can she trust him to carry her through his trial?
As a child, Felicia Ferguson lived in Kansas, Texas, and Louisiana before her family settled on a horse and cattle farm in Kentucky. For the past ten years, though, she soaked up the Florida sun. But then God moved her once again. This time out of the South and into the mountains of Colorado.
Felicia achieved master’s degrees in Healthcare Administration and Speech-Language Pathology, but has written since childhood and dreamed of authoring books that teach and inspire others. An award-winning fiction and non-fiction freelance writer, she is the past president of the Destin chapter of Word Weavers International and a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association.
She has previously published devotions with Christian Devotions and Inkspirations, and her first contemporary women’s novel with End Game Press, The Choices She Made, released in 2022. Her 2023 releases include two devotions in Ordinary People, Extraordinary God and three short stories in Sweet Romance for Every Season, both from End Game Press. When Secrets Come Calling, a contemporary women’s fiction book, will release in 2024 also with End Game Press. Her radio devotional, Build Faith for the Journey, airs Saturdays on Christian Mix 106.
When she’s not glued to her laptop, Felicia enjoys hiking, meandering with her twelve-year-old Frenchie, and looking forward to the next story.
Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.
Learn more at http://www.feliciafergusonauthor.com.
It does sound like a difficult read. The cover makes it look more like a summery read.
It’s certainly not easy or breezy!