A review by serendipitysbooks
One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

 Could you forgive the man who raped you? Would you be comfortable with your daughter, the result of that rape, getting to know the rapist and his family? These are some of the issues Sara faces after her father’s ill health forces her to return to her hometown that she fled eight years ago in the wake of her rape. This book never really gelled for me. The extreme giftedness of Sara’s daughter and the fact that her father could communicate only by quoting poetry distracted me from the issues I was most interested in. Additionally I felt really uncomfortable about all the praise Daniel received for his good deeds in prison. Yet there was no mention of him ever apologising to Sara, of undertaking rehabilitation or therapy. His blaming his grief over his sister’s death for his actions felt like a cop out, a way to evade accepting full responsibility. I was going to put this book aside multiple times but persevered, hoping to see genuine remorse and atonement and gain insight into how and why Sara was able to forgive. Sadly I didn’t, which probably says as much about me as it does about the book. It was not for me. 
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