Lynn Spencer - All About Romance

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I picked it up on a whim because it sounded like a good story, and it ended up having more depth than I anticipated. It's technically an inspirational, but in terms of overt religious content, it reads very much like mainstream fiction.Lauren Durough's experiences form the frame for this book. Born into a wealthy family, Lauren admirably (if somewhat naively) decides that she will earn her way in life on her own merits. She attends a state school and lives in the dorms. Even though she can have anything she asks of her parents, she chooses to take a job instead. Hired by the elderly Abigail Boyles, Lauren works transcribing a fragile 17th century diary that has been in Boyles' family for generations. It purports to be the diary of a victim of the Salem witch trials, Mercy Hayworth.This book travels back and forth between Lauren's life and Mercy's, and it's a compelling story. I really liked seeing Lauren grow as she worked on the book. So much of this story focuses on how we perceive others and Lauren comes to realize that even as she believes herself nonjudgmental, she has been making assumptions about others and it affects her relationships with family, friends and a possible love interest. This contrasts nicely with the role that snap judgments play in Mercy's plight - something the author thankfully does not lay on with too heavy a hand.Stylistically, the writing in this book flowed very well. We see Lauren growing as a person while she works her way through Mercy's journal. Even though they are sometimes awkward, I also enjoyed her interactions with her employer, Abigail. The secrets of Abigail's life intrigued me almost as much as Mercy, though I thought the unraveling of her secrets near the end was a bit abrupt. In the end, this book truly moved me and the characters stayed in my mind long after I stopped reading, something I consider the mark of a good book indeed.