David takes Ash to Patience, Texas, where he lives in a log cabin with his wife, Bev, and her 12-year-old son, Ben. Although Ben's not too anxious to meet his stepsister, Bev takes Ash under her wing. With her new family, Ash discovers that she doesn't have to spend her life cowering in her closet. As she gets to know the Ashers, becomes involved in a summer English course, and reaches out to others, she feels herself healing - slowly, painfully, and not wholly - but at least making progress. Patience becomes a refuge for Ash, but even in backward East Texas, things are not always as peaceful as they seem. The better Ash gets to know Patience's residents, the more she realizes that abuse comes in many forms and that fighting it will take everything she has - and more.

You know me - I can forgive writing and plotting flaws if a book contains some good, multi-dimensional characters, people that I can connect with because they feel so real. Courage in Patience boasts a couple well-drawn players, but it also contains far too many who aren't. Ash's voice rings with authenticity. She's honest, edgy and vulnerable all at the same time, which makes her both sympathetic and admirable. Her story reads like a memoir more than a novel, because her narration is so forthright. The characterization problem really lies in the adult characters, almost all of whom are portrayed as being either 100% good or 100% evil. Charlie abuses Ash, so he is bad. We don't get much of a glimpse into what makes him this way. Don't get me wrong - I think anyone who takes advantage of a child qualifies as scum of the Earth - I'm just saying a well-rounded character needs more of a history, more of a backstory, so we can at least understand his actions. Another example is Bev's boss, Principal Walden. He opposes Bev's teaching methods, so he is bad. Again, we don't get to see any of the possible reasons for his negativity or any humanizing qualities - he could have an overwhelming need to protect his students because no one protected him; he could fear losing his job and being unable to pay bills; or his cowardice in the face of the school board could come from being bullied throughout his life. We don't know, because all we're told is that he's threatening a teacher, so he's bad. I also didn't understand why David got to be portrayed as 100% good, since he does, in fact, abandon his daughter, making little attempt to contact her until CPS forces his hand. Then, suddenly, he becomes Dad of the Year. So, yeah. Some good, some not so good on the characterization front.

So, I'm going to be brutally honest here - I didn't love this book. It does make some strong statements, and it definitely made me think. It made me ponder so hard, in fact, that I'm drafting a post on censorship and how this book made me reconsider some of my opinions. As a novel, however, it lacks a lot of things - tight plotting, subtle development of a theme, strong characterization, and unpredictability. Like I said before, a good editor could easily set it to rights, but for me, it just didn't quite work. As always, I try to be as honest as possible about the books I review, but mine are not the only opinions out there. Hard to believe, I know! Courage in Patience gets very high reviews on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble (where I got the picture), so check them out for more discussion of the book.

Note: The back cover proclaims Courage in Patience to be "Suitable for classroom study" and free from "graphic content." These phrases come from the publisher, not the author. I think I've made it clear that these are false statements (in my opinion, at least) - so consider yourself warned.