God Bless the Child

<p class=ql-align-justify>When we first meet Mary Kline in <strong><em>God Bless the Child</em></strong> Book One of <em>The Women of Paradise County</em> series she is sewing her main obsession besides eating. It is hard to blame Mary for who she has become. She's been perpetually hungry since childhood and as she becomes a woman she craves something far more delicious-a child of her own.</p><p class=ql-align-justify><br></p><p class=ql-align-justify>When Pearl Davis turns up pregnant after a church-basement encounter with James Pullman the pastor's son Mary and her parents swoop in and adopt Pearl and her baby Elizabeth. It's a disastrous move.</p><p class=ql-align-justify><br></p><p class=ql-align-justify>As a teen Elizabeth rebuffs Mary's smothering affection and winds up pregnant. Mary insists on an abortion which they both keep secret. When she later becomes a young mother Elizabeth's depression leads to severe OCD. When her irrationally patient husband David learns about the abortion and the harrowing nights Elizabeth witnessed as a child when her birth mother was abused more secrets are revealed that explain Mary Kline's insatiable appetite and her desire to be loved.</p><p class=ql-align-justify><br></p><p class=ql-align-justify>By the time Mary and Elizabeth confront the twisted truths that bind them their entire family is sucked into grappling with layers of trauma spanning three generations.</p><p class=ql-align-justify><br></p><p class=ql-align-justify>Everyone in <em>God Bless the Child</em> must reckon with their past as they seek forgiveness and redemption.</p><p><br></p>