"Stones for Bread" by Christa Parrish

Christa Parrish has had a distinct voice ever since she hit the Christian fiction market. "Stones for Bread" is not a story for everyone. It's a story for the broken, the hurting. Liesl McNamara's life was shattered at age 12, when her mother committed suicide and she was the one to find the body. Now an adult, Liesl is still searching for wholeness amidst the pain that never quite goes away.

Having learned the art of baking from her mother and grandmother, Liesl owns a small but successful bake house, still baking from starters passed on to her from previous generations. Bread is her whole life. She's learning about community and trusting the people around her, but when her assistant signs her up to be a guest star on a national cooking show, her world is about to get a lot bigger. Where do you take risks, and where do you hold things close? Liesl must decide this not only with her business, but also with her heart.

Liesl's path to healing really resonated with me. I know what it's like to feel loss after loss in different areas, and to weigh the pros and cons of letting someone look in on your pain. It's a risk, because they may refuse to enter into it with you, and then it's another layer of hurt. If you choose to share, you become accountable to them in how you face it in your everyday life; you can't pretend with them that it isn't there. Often it's just easier to put the issues on the back burner and not share, but that does not bring healing. Trusting God and opening up to Him and those He brings to you is one key to overcoming and learning to live in wholeness. For those who know about pain, Liesl's journey is one that captures you. For those who aren't acquainted this will be something beyond their grasp.

Sprinkled throughout "Stones for Bread" are many recipes, all requiring more than one day of preparation, many of them artisan in nature. That's not something that I can see a whole lot of readers getting into, but you never know. Additionally, each chapter has a section on the history of bread which I found to be not relevant to the story at all. These sections could very easily be skipped over without missing a beat of Liesl's journey.

This story is written in a style that makes it less than engaging at first. You have to push in before getting to the good stuff. The majority of it is written in the first person present tense, which is very popular right now, but that has lost its novelty on me and become annoying. Don't let that stop you from persevering. Once you get in, there's a deep and good story.

My copy of this book was provided by LitFuse in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.


Christa Parrish is celebrating her fourth novel, Stones for Bread, with a KitchenAid Mixer giveaway.

Easy steps to enter:

1. Follow Christa Parrish and TNZ Fiction on Pinterest.

2. Then Pin the Stones for Bread book cover (below), the contest graphic (above), or both, and link to this post (using this URL: #StonesforBread KitchenAid Mixer Contest #ChristaParrish http://litfusegroup.com/campaigns/stones-for-bread-by-christa-parrish).

3. Then fill out THIS SHORT FORM to let us know. (There are also some additional ways to earn extra entries, as well as an option for non-Pinterest users. It's true—people like that do exist!)

Questions? Email info @ litfusegroup dot com.

Winner will be announced on 12/9 on Christa's Facebook Page.