Sleep Toward Heaven: How do you forgive when you cant forget?

How do you forgive when you can't forget? “Why did you sleep on the couch?” Nat was awake first, as always, his hair unruly, his Tshirt smelling of sleep.
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The only reason for two stars for this book is that it really gave my book club a lot to discuss; however, it was the topic of the book not the book itself that led to all the discussion. I personally felt the book was a little weak. I didn't like the character of Franny at all; difficult to believe she was a doctor - she was so wishy washy and tremulous all the time. No matter how hard the author tried to make the reader feel sorry for the girls on death row, I just can't waste my sorrow and The only reason for two stars for this book is that it really gave my book club a lot to discuss; however, it was the topic of the book not the book itself that led to all the discussion.

No matter how hard the author tried to make the reader feel sorry for the girls on death row, I just can't waste my sorrow and patience on someone who kills people no matter how poorly they were treated growing up. Everyone has a story; get over it and get on with living. I hate bleeding hearts I don't think so - but life in prison without parole should do it. Sorry for the band wagon -- this is mostly what my book club discussed rather than the book! Wow, a few months ago, I didn't even post reviews because I didn't like to have my opinions influence readers one way or another, and now I find myself ranting!!

Jan 08, Darbi Hebrank rated it it was amazing Shelves: Ward's writing style wasn't all that impressive in prose, but it was so simple and I found it very easy to relate to what she wrote about. She didn't use huge words or bury the meaning in pretentious sentences. She just told it like it was. The plot was very clever I really liked getting to know the three different characters, and now that I'm trying my own hand at writing a book, I appreciate more an author's ability to fully develop the cha Ward's writing style wasn't all that impressive in prose, but it was so simple and I found it very easy to relate to what she wrote about.

I really liked getting to know the three different characters, and now that I'm trying my own hand at writing a book, I appreciate more an author's ability to fully develop the characters. I think she did a great job because each woman was different, had a different voice, and a different sense of being.

It was weird because although my life was so different from each woman's I still related to certain facets of each of their lives. Dec 14, Jack rated it really liked it. But I actually couldn't put this book down. It's Ward's first novel, and it has that first-novel cautiously lovely language mixed with first-novel sort of cliche but why the hell not?

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There's a subtle kind of danger in the prose. And the women are not just tough because they choose to have a lot of casual sex and decide not to have children. Jul 18, Nancy Rossman rated it it was amazing. Powerful, thought provoking, well written. One of the best in a while. The characters were well defined with physical and emotional detail, the predicament of being on death row was one of those things we rarely think about and yet drawing the reader in. It reminded me of seeing a horrible accident where your pulse races and you know there is blood, you don't want to look but you want to know "what happened?

The ending was not at all how I thought it was going to end and yet, so strong and made quite a statement. Jul 07, Kaethe rated it it was amazing Shelves: My review at Amazon, from way back: I've just completed the incredibly moving Sleep Toward Heaven.

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What a beautiful book it is. This will be on my year's best list.

The author has rendered society's most loathsome people in a way that is sympathetic without sentimentality. The characters and their crimes are believable and comprehensible even as the crimes themselves are repugnant. This is a novel full of insight and compassion, wrapped in a story that is compelling and suspenseful. A great read My review at Amazon, from way back: A great read with an important theme; Dickens would have loved this book.

Oct 11, Melinda Lang rated it it was amazing. Engaging, riveting and hard to put down. I loved this book - character development was basically flawless and the way the storyline eventually brought everyone together was believable and very interesting. I read Sleep Toward Heaven in and loved it so much I kept the book. I will put it back on my bookshelf because I know I will want to visit these characters again. View all 3 comments. Aug 01, Lyn rated it really liked it. This book was a page turner with an unusual plot, and interesting format, and unpredictable ending!

The author has my vote for being an easy read and I certainly will look for my books by Amanda Ward. Oct 19, Dara S. Aug 14, Karen. This book is one to make you think after reading it. I chose the book because a friend of my brother's wrote it and it sounded interesting. However, until half way through it, I was not particularly impressed. I had trouble keeping up with the characters, who are all very damaged. Each chapter is about one of them and titled with the character's name, but the story is not first person.

However, what changed my opinion is the last quarter of the book, when all the strings of the character's stori This book is one to make you think after reading it. However, what changed my opinion is the last quarter of the book, when all the strings of the character's stories come together beautifully. The writing is very subtle: The ending has a supernatural aspect that I did not see coming and it could be argued that it is kind of manipulative, but it worked for me as I read it.

It is only now on reflection that I see it was a convenient solution. I think it shocked because the book is so realistic that you can't imagine a supernatural twist in the very last moment. The book leaves you with a lot of themes to ponder: I think it's the book's subtlety that allows it to seep under your skin and into your brain. Jun 30, Victoria rated it liked it Shelves: The characters in this novel were quite strong, and there was definitely a high emotional appeal, but the plot was very predictable.

The biggest and most shocking drawback to the whole novel was Karen. Her entire crime wave as well as personal life was completely lifted from Aileen Wuornos's life. Ward hardly put any spin on that true story at all other than change Karen's race to make her story unique. I wouldn't have been as upset had Ward acknowledge this inspiration anywhere in the book. Since she did not, it seems a bit life theft. The book came out the same year as the film Monster , so the good ratings of the book are really shocking, unless the book's release preceded the movie's.

It was well-written, and I am glad that I read it, I just wish that Ward had thrown out some sort of acknowledgment that she based Karen of Aileen. How to Be Lost: Feb 22, Chana rated it really liked it Shelves: I couldn't put it down. The writing is spare and powerful, beautiful, never a word too many or wrongly put.

We follow 5 fictional women on death row in Texas, their crimes terrible.

Prayer to God for Forgiveness of Sins

We also follow a doctor who works in the prison, and the wife of a victim. We explore hope and hopelessness, hatred and forgiveness, life and death. I don't think everything can or should be forgiven, but I recognize the redemptive power of forgiveness and it is brought out perfectly in this book. The woman on death I couldn't put it down. The woman on death row whom we follow the most closely is the most forgivable of the women on death row. We are brought to see her childhood, its deprivations and horrors, the lack of education and chances, the abuse she continues to suffer, her illness and her grace at the end of her life.

It is inevitable that our hearts should open, at least to the possibility of forgiveness, if it is even ours to give. Apr 06, Victoria Hueber rated it really liked it. This captivating, witty but ultimately sad book was one that I read very quickly. It was definitely one that was hard to put down. Celia, a librarian, is struggling to come to terms with the death of her husband years ago. Franny, a doctor, is unhappy in her long-term relationship. Karen is on death row. The book follows the same period of a few months in each of their lives in an interesting narrative style that changes tense and reader-perspective according to the character.

Sleep Toward Heaven This captivating, witty but ultimately sad book was one that I read very quickly. Sleep Toward Heaven describes grief, disillusionment in relationships and life on death row sympathetically and convincingly. The book is well researched and an enjoyable, absorbing read that an easily be devoured in an evening. My only criticism is personally I found the view of the book towards serial killers a little too sympathetic, a little too saccharine that made the ending a little unsatisfying. Mar 10, Beth rated it it was amazing Shelves: In less than ten pages, I was absorbed into the story and awash in her words.

My gosh, how I wish I'd been able to write the way this amazing author does! Since I'd read her latest novel first, I chose to read her very first novel next, this one--Sleep Toward Heaven. Turning that last page was for me, as it was previously, a bittersweet experience, a mixture of regret and satisfaction coupled w The first of Amanda Eyre Ward's novels that I read was actually her most recently published--Same Sky.

Turning that last page was for me, as it was previously, a bittersweet experience, a mixture of regret and satisfaction coupled with an intense appreciation of the human spirit, that I've not felt from my reading in quite some time. I've just made a library request for another of her novels--How to be Lost. I hope it will be available soon! Feb 10, Fredsky rated it really liked it Recommends it for: For the last two days I've been living with women on Death Row.

The TV is blaring almost constantly. The doors slam open and slam closed. People yell and scream and bang on their cell bars with their trays, anything that will clang. We are never alone. When we think we might be alone we are being watched on screen, remotely. We are strip-searched every 2 or 3 days. Except for a few guards and the doctor, we are considered dead meat. This bitch killed my husband. Tho For the last two days I've been living with women on Death Row. Those two monsters killed their own babies and a husband!

That one, she's killed 7 husbands and there's a number 8 coming up. What is a life worth to these sub-people? What are their own lives worth to them? Are they worth saving? Are they worth keeping? Feb 13, Lynn rated it it was amazing. I reread this about once a year.

Sleep Toward Heaven

There's just so much beautiful stuff here. Three beautifully delineated women, all dealing with loss, change, and discovery, on the way to genuine redemption. I am always moved, especially by the character of the woman on death row, whose loneliness, loss, and yearning for wholeness are incredibly poignant, especially when played against the stories of the two women whose lives touch hers. Oct 20, Martha rated it liked it Shelves: Had never read this author before.

Will now look for her other books This was her debut novel written in Interesting read where three women's lives intersect during a hot Texas summer. One is a librarian and victim ,one is a doctor and the other is woman on death row. It was a page turner and hard to put down. Feb 04, Michelegg rated it really liked it.

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To view it, click here. This was a very thought provoking book about a murder and how it affects the one murdering, the one whose husband was murdered and the one who comes to care for the murderer as she's dying of AIDS on death row. The twist at the end, as the one whose husband is murdered, has compassion on the murderer, is remarkable.

Could have been very easily a much longer book It wasn't until the end of the book that I felt some sort of human connection with the characters and story line.. Jun 28, Krissy rated it really liked it. Sad story but the characters really stuck with me. Apr 19, Marisa rated it it was amazing Shelves: Just as God's grace had a transforming effect in your life, your extension of that grace to others has power to transform them.

In these painful situations we must keep in mind that every lost person matters to God. Paul endured all kinds of persecution and pain in order to share Christ. Jesus endured the pain and shame of the cross in order to redeem you. When we endure and forgive rather than strike back and resent, we open the doorway of grace to someone else. True Forgiveness is an act of grace empowered by God. Forgiveness is not easy. In fact, I suspect that many of you here today are already bristling at the idea of extending forgiveness to someone who has hurt you. It's an unnatural act. We desire justice and vindication.

We want to get even. To forgive someone requires the work of God in your life. This is NOT a natural act. How else do you explain a parent who can forgive someone who murdered their child? How else do you explain the spouse who forgives a mate for their adultery? These things happen only as a result of God working through them.

Wifey Wednesday: How to Forgive Your Husband | To Love, Honor and Vacuum

True Forgiveness results in a changed attitude toward another. What does it mean to forgive a person? In Thomas Watson's book on the Lord's Prayer he writes,. Forgiveness has taken place when we can honestly seek good for the other person. It is when we make an effort to restore a relationship rather than avoid the relationship. Forgiveness has taken place when past actions no longer hold a present bearing. Forgiveness is real when hate is replaced by love. Forgiveness is seldom a one-time affair. We have to consciously seek to forgive again and again.

One moment we may feel we have let the matter go and in the next something stimulates a painful memory that must be dealt with again. The roots of bitterness go deep. The deeper the hurt, the more time may be needed for the difficult work of forgiveness. Forgiveness is a decision of the mind and the heart which must be reaffirmed over and over.

True Forgiveness must be Realistic. We must understand that the act of forgiveness may not heal the relationship with the person who hurt us. The person we forgive may not even see anything they need to be forgiven of. It may seem that they are indifferent to the pain they have inflicted. Forgiveness may not affect the other person at all. But we must extend forgiveness anyway as an act of trust toward God. We must forgive because we choose to do what is right, not because of the response we hope to get from the other.

We also need to realize that we cannot wait for someone else to make the first move.

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We feel the person who offended should be the one to make the first move. However, the Lord gives us no such rule. The rule the Lord gives us is simply this: And, if you remember, God made the first move toward us. True Forgiveness involves Forgetting. We've heard it said, and even said it ourselves: I can forgive, but I can't forget. Yet, what are we to make of the Biblical passages that tell us that God will "remember our sins no longer.

I can't think of a more difficult command given in scripture. It goes against our nature. Every pore of our body screams, "No, I won't do it. We even want to do what is right. But we feel paralyzed. You may still feel it is impossible. If so, listen to this true account. Rebecca Pippert relates the powerful story of the late Corrie ten Boom. Corrie was a Christian woman and had been invited to speak at a conference in Portland Oregon. This is what she said,.

Our friend Max Lucado sums it all up and places it in simple words we can understand. By forgiving another, I am trusting that God is a better justice-maker than I am. By forgiving, I release my own right to get even and leave all issues of fairness for God to work out. I leave in God's hands the scales that must balance justice and mercy.

So what about you? Where do you need to extend forgiveness today? I'll give you a hint: It's time, my friend, time to let go. It's time to let the grace and love of God work in you and through you.