Hey, hey!  How are you?  How’s your long weekend going?  I hope you’re getting all the rest and relaxation you need.

Well, I’m back on The Spotlight with another book review from one of my favourite authors, Abimbola Dare!  I reviewed her third title, The Accidental Wife sometime last year.  It was the second book of hers I’d read at the time, with the first being the book I’m about to review, When Broken Chords Sings.  I loved it so much, I had to read it again, for my enjoyment, blessing and also to share a good review on it, because it had been long since I first read it.  I introduced Abimbola last time, but here’s a recap for those who missed it:

Abimbola Dare started her writing journey as a Blogger, going by the name Bimbylads, in 2006.  She published her first book, The Small Print, in 2011, which became a top 40 Kindle Bestseller!  With her other titles following suit in success, she was recently named one of the top 100 most influential writers in Nigeria under 40!  She’s truly an accomplished writer, and has been the recipient of numerous awards.  She’s married with a child.

She’s now on her fourth title, The Last Wedding Anniversary, and I’ve already got my copy in my library (thanks to a dear friend) to tuck into later!  When I’m done with it, I would have read every one of Abimbola’s stories :).  However, for now, my favourite is still WHEN BROKEN CHORDS SING, and let me tell you why… (this is the review part)

I think Abimbola was at her best when she wrote this story, or maybe the Holy Spirit just carried her the whole way through, because the story is not only profound, but so very well written.  It’s packed with so many lessons for singles who are desirous for marriage, and reveals the problems that arise when we ignore godly wisdom to keep sex for marriage.  It also deals with the prevalent issue of domestic violence and how it is being overlooked even and especially in the Church.

Domestic violence is such a deep and delicate issue that it would be hard for anyone to properly address the many dimensions to this evil, but Abimbola really did justice to this topic.  She illustrated how often family and societal pressure can result in women staying in dangerous marriages, even at the expense of their health and their very lives – even when children are involved.  In fact, many times, the children are used as bait to keep wives in bondage.  I like how Abimbola showed the reality of the situation for many women who keep returning to such hostile homes, and that even the rich and famous are not spared from this scourge.

She told a story about Destiny who, as a University student, fell in love with her stand-in lecturer, Stanley Briggs.  After a short romance, a proposal in the rain, they continue in the whirlwind to perform a rushed wedding, which is sabotaged by Stanley’s wife!  Yes, you read right.  Not ex-wife.  Apparently, he’d started divorce proceedings, and the poor woman, who’d had twin boys for him, was not ready to let him go.

As you can imagine, Destiny struggles to recover from that betrayal and their relationship in general.  She ends up vulnerable and going for the first guy who shows her that he’s serious about dating her.  Chris is also a Christian by the looks of things, though her Christian co-worker sees right through him and advises Destiny against a relationship with him.  Even with clear signs that he is the easily angered, controlling sort, she proceeds to marry him.  And he shows her his true colours after that.

The story starts in retrospective prose, and continues as Destiny tells us how she was able to finally leave her husband, and the many challenges along the way.  After being betrayed by her mother, who is more concerned with what people will think than her child’s suffering, and being shunned by the Church, Destiny finally gets help from an unexpected source.  The story concludes with her journey to healing and trusting in God.

There are so many other details to the story, but I don’t want to spoil it for you.  I believe I’ve whet your appetite already with this.  It really was an amazing story addressing so many different things, with intelligence, sensitivity and humour.

I do have a couple of small critiques.  Destiny spent a lot of time looking back at her relationship with Stanley as if if she’d married him instead, her life would have been perfect.  The message wasn’t very clear on that, and some singles may draw the wrong lesson from this, even though Destiny was really struggling with the spiritual bondage of their illicit relationship.

I also didn’t really get their love, what it was between Destiny and Stanley, besides sex, that made her so in love with him or vice versa.  But I was happy that at the end, when she was tempted to jump into another relationship, she chose God.  She chose to develop her relationship with Him and learn to listen and obey His counsel.  That was the icing on the cake on the whole story for me.

So, if you are looking for a good book to read, I recommend When Broken Chords Sing by Abimbola Dare.  It’s not only a good resource for women but for men too.  Get yours and thank me later xoxo

Photo credit: http://www.pixabay.com

If you liked this post, you might like THE SPOTLIGHT: A REVIEW OF ‘THE ACCIDENTAL WIFE’ BY ABIMBOLA DARE

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