Pieces of the Heart by Bonnie S. Calhoun

Quilts of Love series (Book 9)

Cordelia Grace watched Bernard Howard, the love of her young life, go off to fight for our country in WWII. And she has spent the last three years creating the Pine Cone quilt that will grace their marriage bed when he comes home. Each row of triangles signifies a layer in her life, sets of memories, hopes, dreams, and prayers for her future, enough spoken words to cover them forever. Her image of their “happy-ever-after” grows proportionally as the quilt expands.

But is the man that returns from the war, the same man that she remembered? Are the dark shades of color that she had to use for the outside edges of the beloved quilt prophetic of her life to come? Can love and faith overcome all?

My Review:
Bernard and Cordelia are a young couple in love, and much like Romeo and Juliet, circumstances prevent them from marrying as early as they'd like. Frustrated, Bernard enlists. They both endure a time of testing. Much research on WWII African-American soldiers is evident. Separation from white soldiers must have been extremely humiliating for soldiers like Bernard, who had enjoyed mixed company all his life.

Cordelia's love for Bernard as he wrestles with battle fatigue makes this reader ache.

There's so much to the story that it seems choppy at times.

The theme and history of a Pine Cone quilt carries throughout the story. I like the way the quilt becomes an intricate part of Cordelia's life.

Discussion questions included.

Thank you to Bonnie at Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and Abingdon for my copy.

If you would like to read the first chapter, click here.

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