Marnie Wittier runs the Books and Brew coffee shop, a gathering place for the locals in Pacific Grove, California. She lives a quiet life and usually makes just enough money to cover expenses. Her loyal following asks nothing of her other than to host baby showers and other parties from time to time and that's just the way she likes it. They do not know her past and she does not volunteer much information. She feels as though she's been given a second chance by God to start a new life and her kind-heartedness and compassion leads her to do the same with others.
Everything is going along great, until her past catches up with her in the form of a lawyer's letter. After 15 years of no contact with her sister in Maine, she is informed that Rose died, leaving instructions for Marnie to become the guardian for Emmit, her 15 year old son. The notification by Taylor Cole, Rose's lawyer and Marnie's close friend whom she abandoned so many years ago, throws her for a loop. She's been found, and Emmit is going to be on a plane to California in a few days.
Unnerved but with strong ties of family loyalty pulling at her, she does the right thing and meets the plane. Totally unprepared for the task of raising a teen, she is even more dumbfounded when she discovers Emmit is a Down's Syndrome child. He challenges her daily as she learns to love him. The most frustrating moments occur when he continually gets into her "regret box", triggering memories of her earlier life.
I like the way Marlo Schalesky develops her characters and teaches us along the way. Marnie and Taylor both learn that hanging on to past sins, regrets, and fear keeps us from being whole. God wants us to to give up these things and be totally free to live in Him. We also can recognize, as the main characters do, that God gives us gifts but sometimes it takes difficult situations before we see the truth of those gifts.
While I enjoyed the book and read with anticipation to learn the whole story behind the characters, I did not particularly care for the ending, The surprise twist was a little too "mystical" for me, for lack of a better word. Other than that, I enjoyed reading Shades of Morning.
2010 paperback by Multnomah.
