Sandpebbles

March 18, 2002
The pain caused by the loss of her daughter the previous year in a car accident permeates Hickman's newest inspirational novel, the story of a widow's search for meaning after her husband's death. "Not letting go is my downfall," says March ("like the month") Longfellow, and so begins this tale of losing loved ones and finding renewed faith through surrendering control. March is attracted to Pastor Colin Arnett, a widower with four children who knows grief as well as she. But March fends off love and holds tightly to what little control she has left in her life, keeping a close rein on her widowed father, her young son, Mason, and her newspaper, the Candle Cove, N.C., Sentinel, until the story's conclusion allows March to lay old ghosts to rest. Hickman's characterizations are chock-full of originality, from March's would-be suitor and town exterminator, Jerry Brevity, who drives a truck with a giant fake rat on top, to Charlotte, Colin's eight-year-old handicapped daughter, who has a penchant for angels (a motif scattered throughout the story). However, Hickman's descriptive writing and her word choices often go over the top, making it difficult for the reader to become engrossed in the narrative. Too many hospital incidents are included, and even the cat has a brain tumor. It's a good if not exceptional story with some nice touches of humor. Hickman continues to be one of CBA's most promising novelists, even if this story doesn't achieve its full potential.

April 1, 2002
The boating death of her husband leaves March Longfellow and her son, Mason, in a painful coexistence. March hints of suicide when she thinks of how her husband died, but she's too busy trying to support her son in the small town of Candle Cove to worry about explaining his father's death to him. Meanwhile, her pastor father is ready to retire and invites widowed minister Colin Arnett to preach as a potential replacement. Refusing to believe that her father truly means to retire, March subconsciously sabotages his efforts and drives Colin away. After her father suffers a heart attack, March takes a long look at how stubborn she's been and approaches Colin to ask his forgiveness. Their initial meeting soon blossoms into love, but March has to open her heart to God again and replace her sense of duty to the church with a true joy before they can find happiness. To the novel's detriment, Hickman's (Katrina's Wings) March is self-centered and self-righteous for much of the story. Still, Hickman's writing will be in demand by fans and will appeal to readers of Robin Lee Hatcher's emotional Ribbon of Years. Purchase where demand warrants.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2002
Historicals writer Hickman turns in rather a morose romance with "Sandpebbles" about March Longfellow, who became a widow after the somewhat questionable death of her husband, and who grieves that she didn't truly love the man. March is the not very convincing editor of a small-town paper, doesn't want another romance, and is doing the best she can by her young son, Mason, who has trouble accepting his father's death. March cannot quite open up to a visiting minister, the sort of flawless man found only in romances; but his tireless kindness, and her visitations with a cancer patient, give March some perspective. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)