Official Review: Mumma Shana
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Official Review: Mumma Shana
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Mumma Shana" by Dana Wolf.]
Mumma Shana is a book that will hold your reader’s heart captive with a story of hurt, betrayal, forgiveness, faith and love. A poignant, coming of age novel about a young Jewish girl named Dorie.
In Dorie, Dana Wolf has given readers a plucky heroine who survives just about everything one person could go through in a life time. She is alternately used and betrayed by her mother, neglected and abandoned by her father, mistreated and thrown away by men and devastated by the death of two of the only people who love her. Just when you think Dorie has resigned herself to a loveless marriage in order to keep her family together, she finds what she has been searching for, real true love.
During all of her adventures and misadventures, Dorie is searching for someone or something in which to believe. As a young girl, Dorie has questions about what being Jewish really means and she feels different than the other girls she grows up with because she refuses to accept truths without thinking them through. In her teen years, a friend introduces her to the basics of Christianity and Dorie becomes a Christian Jew. Dorie’s new understanding of faith and her conversion experience is one of the clearest, best, most heartfelt descriptions of Christianity that I have ever read. It feels honest, true, and very real without sermonizing.
One person who gives Dorie the love and nurturing she needs is her Nana. Nana gives her solid advice, shelter, love, and boundaries. Then, her grandmother is an ever present help and guide in her life, passes away. Even so, she is there for her. It is her spirit that encourages her and pushes her to forgive all those who have hurt and betrayed her. In a scene that makes your heart well up, Dorie comes to understand how much better it is to forgive than to remain angry and bitter. She forgives, the many wrongs she has suffered at the hands of those who were supposed to love, care for and protect her.
It is only after learning to forgive and have holding on to her faith in God, Dorie finds the love she searched for love her entire life. She was denied it time and time again; by her mother, her father, her mother’s partners, her boyfriend, her boss, and her husband. This is the moment that you are truly happy for her. After all the pain, rejection, and heartbreak in Dorie’s life I found myself overjoyed for her. This is a romance that is real and therefore far from Hollywood perfection but anything else wouldn’t suit this particular heroine.
With regard to the structure of the narrative, the use of the omniscient narrator suits this novel for two reasons. First, it helps to fully develop the characters. These life-like characters will have you emotionally involved in this tale from the very beginning. Second, the narrator also maintains the tension in the story by keeping the story moving a good pace without leaving the reader confused. At times, the language used to accomplish these forward time shifts becomes repetitive but it is nonetheless an effective device.
Accomplished, beautiful and sincere, I think that Mumma Shana is a tremendous story. Overall, I truly enjoyed reading this book and I believe the informal treatment of timeless themes and in the true to life characters will capture its audience from page one.
I rate Mumma Shana 4 out of 4 stars.
***
Buy "Mumma Shana" on Amazon
Mumma Shana is a book that will hold your reader’s heart captive with a story of hurt, betrayal, forgiveness, faith and love. A poignant, coming of age novel about a young Jewish girl named Dorie.
In Dorie, Dana Wolf has given readers a plucky heroine who survives just about everything one person could go through in a life time. She is alternately used and betrayed by her mother, neglected and abandoned by her father, mistreated and thrown away by men and devastated by the death of two of the only people who love her. Just when you think Dorie has resigned herself to a loveless marriage in order to keep her family together, she finds what she has been searching for, real true love.
During all of her adventures and misadventures, Dorie is searching for someone or something in which to believe. As a young girl, Dorie has questions about what being Jewish really means and she feels different than the other girls she grows up with because she refuses to accept truths without thinking them through. In her teen years, a friend introduces her to the basics of Christianity and Dorie becomes a Christian Jew. Dorie’s new understanding of faith and her conversion experience is one of the clearest, best, most heartfelt descriptions of Christianity that I have ever read. It feels honest, true, and very real without sermonizing.
One person who gives Dorie the love and nurturing she needs is her Nana. Nana gives her solid advice, shelter, love, and boundaries. Then, her grandmother is an ever present help and guide in her life, passes away. Even so, she is there for her. It is her spirit that encourages her and pushes her to forgive all those who have hurt and betrayed her. In a scene that makes your heart well up, Dorie comes to understand how much better it is to forgive than to remain angry and bitter. She forgives, the many wrongs she has suffered at the hands of those who were supposed to love, care for and protect her.
It is only after learning to forgive and have holding on to her faith in God, Dorie finds the love she searched for love her entire life. She was denied it time and time again; by her mother, her father, her mother’s partners, her boyfriend, her boss, and her husband. This is the moment that you are truly happy for her. After all the pain, rejection, and heartbreak in Dorie’s life I found myself overjoyed for her. This is a romance that is real and therefore far from Hollywood perfection but anything else wouldn’t suit this particular heroine.
With regard to the structure of the narrative, the use of the omniscient narrator suits this novel for two reasons. First, it helps to fully develop the characters. These life-like characters will have you emotionally involved in this tale from the very beginning. Second, the narrator also maintains the tension in the story by keeping the story moving a good pace without leaving the reader confused. At times, the language used to accomplish these forward time shifts becomes repetitive but it is nonetheless an effective device.
Accomplished, beautiful and sincere, I think that Mumma Shana is a tremendous story. Overall, I truly enjoyed reading this book and I believe the informal treatment of timeless themes and in the true to life characters will capture its audience from page one.
I rate Mumma Shana 4 out of 4 stars.
***
Buy "Mumma Shana" on Amazon
Latest Review: "The Freedman and the Pharaoh's Staff" by Lane Heymont
