Review: Disrupted Lives

Author: Brenda Youngerman
Series: ---
Publisher: Eloquent Books
Publication Date: April 11, 2011
How Received: For Review
Rate: 5

Summary: (as quoted from Amazon)
A name does not make a person, a person makes a name. Such is the theme of Disrupted Lives, the story of how one adopted child touches and intersects with many lives, but ends up destroying one family name, while building another family's legacy. Darren and Amelia Kane were high school sweethearts torn apart by war. They reunite and discover that they both must put their nightmares behind them to build a life together. Betrayed by her parents, Amelia was earlier forced to give up their child. Fiona Porter and Sterling Lake are thrown together as part of a business proposition. They end up surprising both their families by enriching the Lake empire and family name. The Lakes become synonymous with society, power and money, and their children must carry that torch forward at all cost. When an adopted grandchild is brought into the family, he questions the definition of "family." From 1920 to present-day Georgia, this saga of family secrets and old Southern prejudices are explored in the explosive novel Disrupted Lives.

My thoughts:
Disrupted Lives is a very emotional, gut-wrenching, and yet uplifting read. I know that you're probably wondering why I just put gut-wrenching and uplifting in the same sentence. It's because this book had so many different characters that I loved and hated all at the same time. There are multiple viewpoints from various generations throughout the novel, but the perspective that I automatically linked to everyone else's viewpoints was Amelia's. At seventeen years old, Amelia becomes pregnant. Her lover has been drafted for war, and her parents have taken it upon themselves to "deal" with the baby"- in other words, give the baby up to be adopted without consulting Amelia. This one act weaves the plot throughout the book, and you get to see events through Amelia, her husband, her long lost son, her son's adoptive parent's, and the adoptive parent's parent's. Beautifully written, Disrupted Lives is a lyrical tale of how one choice can affect - and disrupt - many peoples lives ; I highly recommend picking up a copy today.
5/5
~Moujnir