Book Review: "Return to Me" by Robin Lee Hatcher

Who says you can't go home again?

Roxy wanted to make it big in the country music scene. She left her home and family on bad terms to become a music superstar, immersing herself in that lifestyle and falling away from the values she had been taught at home. Meanwhile back at home her older sister Elena has learned to come out of her sister's shadow and make a name for herself. She's finally at the place she's wanted to be, head of the family company and about to marry Wyatt, Roxy's ex boyfriend who's now planning on becoming a minister. Then Roxy shows up back home, unannounced telling everyone she's trying to change. Elena doesn't believe this and begins to doubt Roxy and her own self, to point where she drives even Wyatt away from her. It takes acceptance of God's grace for the family to become reunited once more.

The story of the prodigal son is a familiar story to almost everyone, even if you didn't learn about it in Sunday School. I always sided with the older brother because I thought it was really unfair of the dad to give all the attention to the younger brother. Yes, I know that the older son will get everything in the end, but the father never acknowledges that he appreciates what the older son does. So it always seemed to me that as Christians we seem to be taken for granted by God. In this book however, I found myself siding with Roxy. Her story made me rethink about the way I felt about the prodigal son because I felt for her and wanted her to be able to start over again. Elena came across to me as being overly paranoid and would jump to conclusions without talking to others first. The scene that really got me was when she tried to dissuade Roxy from singing in church and how she wasn't believing Roxy could become a Christian. It was really sad at how bitter Elena had become especially after reading about the sisters' past. Reading the flashback stories really helped to shape the characters and allowed me to understand why they acted a certain way.I really liked Wyatt and enjoyed reading how his life changed from before to he was saved to after and how it affected both sisters. The story feels fresh and even though I know how the ending is going to be, I still wanted to read to see how it all played out. This was my first Robin Lee Hatcher novel and I was very pleased with it. This book is highly recommended for those who know the prodigal story, those who don't and especially for anyone that has a sister.

Return to Me by Robin Lee Hatcher is published by Zondervan (2007)