"If you wake up tomorrow and realize that you just might be worth something to someone, give me a call."
"I don't have a phone," I told Jack. I was being a jerk, but I couldn't help needling him closer to the breaking point. I wanted to crush the tiny, insistent longing that whispered, Someday, someone will stay.
He was tenacious-there was no denying that. But I was more so.
Sarah Graham is living life hard and fast-and she is flat broke. When her estranged father dies, she travels to the tiny mountain hamlet of Jonah, New York, to claim her inheritance. Once there, however, she learns that her plans for the future-and her memories of the past-are about to change forever.
Christa Parrish's debut novel is a captivating story of a broken, isolated woman and the flawed, faithful people who help her forgive and find peace.
Endorsements
"The people of Jonah are flawed and complicated, and Parrish allows readers to savor every moment of genuine, hard-earned human connection. With its vast array of richly imagined characters, its humor and its substance, this debut is sure to resonate with a wide and appreciative audience."
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Publishers Weekly
"In a poignant tale that wraps around your heart, Christa Parrish brings faith home to the hearts of all of us-genuine, abiding faith that can only be found in the trenches of life. Her warts-and-all characters remind us of what the Christian life is really all about."
-Michele Huey, columnist, author, radio host of God, Me & a Cup of Tea
"Realistic, and compelling, Christa Parrish's Home Another Way brings a magnetic new voice to the market that holds you fast and opens your world. I read it in one sitting. Christa Parrish is here to stay!"
-Virelle Kidder, conference speaker and author of six books, including Meet Me at the Well, and The Best Life Ain't Easy
"Readers, get ready. This is the voice Christian fiction has been waiting for. In her debut novel, Christa Parrish breaks the ice with a story that is bold in character and rich in relationships. Like Sarah, I found myself melting, page after page, warmed by the glow of God's grace."
-Allison Pittman, author of the CROSSROADS OF GRACE series, including With Endless Sight
"There's a bit of Sarah Graham in each of us: angry, defensive, and flat-out scared. In Home Another Way, Christa Parrish takes Sarah up a mountain and through a desert. Her fresh, direct voice draws us in, and gives us hope that we too can learn to listen and forgive. Leave room on your bookshelf. We'll be hearing a lot more from Christa-and loving every word."
-Melanie Rigney, Writer's Digest magazine, former editor
"Christa Parrish has packed an epic's worth of realism and grace into powerful pages you won't stop turning. You are likely to be as changed at the end as Sarah Graham herself. Isn't that what great fiction is about?"
-Nancy Rue, best-selling fiction author
Reviews
"Parrish's debut novel is written with heart and soul. It is always refreshing to read books with imperfect characters; they seem more real. The characters' faith struggles are written in a way that does not preach to readers." -Romantic Times Book Reviews
"Debut novelist Christa Parrish breathes new life into Christian fiction that focuses on interpersonal relationships. Home Another Way sparkles with crisp, cutting descriptive prose and veritably oozes angst. Convinced that everyone else is to blame for her destructive downward spiral, Sarah's life is an open wound that she aggressively defends with sharp words, angry offensives, and seductive wiles. Her attempts to staunch its flow of blood include junk food, strange men, and impassioned, solitary violin solos....
Parrish swerves to avoid cliches and predictable, tidy endings to provide readers with an authentic, satisfying conclusion. Not everything is as it seems for Sarah, or for the reader. Those seeking a refreshing change of pace from the glut of repetitive Christian romance titles will be pleasantly surprised." --Jennifer Bogart, Blogcritics.org
"In her poignant yet gritty first novel, Home Another Way, Christa Parrish tells the moving story of one woman's healing from the scars of her past.... What sets Parrish's novel apart are her beguiling descriptions and careful word choices. 'It took me by complete surprise, how Memory and I had knotted ourselves together, one Sunday at a time one argument at a time --- knit one, purl two --- until we'd tangled ourselves into some ugly granny-square afghan, with misshapen edges and dropped stitches throughout.' Beautifully said. Parrish knows how to give her readers just enough background information about her characters to keep the pages turning, but without holding so much back that the audience feels cheated or becomes frustrated. Varying points of view (including using first person only for Sarah) help flesh out the characters. As Sarah's story unfolds, we discover a childhood full of emotional abuse by her grandmother ('She called me her burden; She said I was her constant reminder that she raised her daughter to be a whore.') and complicated and often checkered pasts for the people of Jonah....
Parrish has peopled her novel with engaging, interesting characters, from old Doc White who has his own skeletons rattling around in a closet to the mountain folks who are lightly sketched. She adeptly avoids the cliched happily-ever-after ending while still leaving the reader satisfied. Hopefully we'll hear more from the talented Parrish." --Cindy Crosby, FaithfulReader.com
"Christa Parrish has written a compelling story that lingers long after the last page is turned. I devoured Home Another Way, and I highly recommend it to anyone like me who loves an authentic story of redemption and grace." --Lisa Spence, 5MinutesforBooks.com
"In Home Another Way, debut author Christa Parrish manages the rare accomplishment of telling a very good story peopled with flawed and very human characters. Though the tale of a city girl out of her element in the country is one that has been told many times, it comes to life vividly in Parrish's hands without the trite qualities that some readers associate with this theme." --Lynn Spencer, All About Romance (LikesBooks.com)
