Second Bookses

Jo-Ann Mapson's Solomon's Oak is one of those books that doesn't shock and amaze you, doesn't have a giant twist or huge climax, but steals your heart with its story. Glory is struggling to keep herself afloat after she was unexpectedly widowed. She and her late husband had frequently fostered boys, but when a girl in need of a foster home turns up, the social worker she considers a friend asks a last-minute favor of Glory, who's attempting to get a wedding business started on her property, featuring the legendary oak of the title, Glory's entire life is upended. The foster child, Juniper, has been abandoned in more than one way by her parents after tragedy took her older sister, and Glory doesn't have it in her to reject the teen again.Also coming onto the scene is retired policeman Joseph, who was injured in the line of duty. All he wanted was to photograph the oak, but he gets pulled into Glory and Juniper's lives.All three are broken, and Solomon's Oak is about their stories: How three people each nursing their own brokenness can come together and heal some of the hurt. Each interaction between any combination of the three is both painful and cathartic.While not everything has a pat resolution, and some plot elements may feel contrived, Solomon's Oak is one of those books you just want to curl up with and enjoy. I love quiet novels, and this one is one of the better ones.