Reason to Believe

Rating:
Summary: One of the better books that I have read recently.
Review: "Reason to Believe" left me in tears when I read it. It was touching in that it not only followed the journey to the Wounded Knee, but it also followed the relationship between two parents and how their relationship evolved with their troubled daughter and how they interacted and grew together. The book also brings to light how the journey to the site, which should remain private to the people involved, is made into a semi spectacle by the press. On the other hand, the press provided to the journey brings to light some of the history involved of a people who have often received the short end of the stick from our government. "Reason to Believe" is a good book to read for anyone who likes a good combination of a little history, a little romance, growth in relationships, and a lot of feeling.

Rating:
Summary: A Painful Ride
Review: Ben Pipestone has betrayed his ex-wife Clara, and this book is full of their pain and its effects on their daughter Anna (Annie.) They decide to ride with Ben's father and a group of Lakota on a commemorative ride to Wounded Knee in the dead of winter to remember the massacre of Big Foot's people in 1890.

The grueling journey could be seen as a metaphor for Ben and Clara's struggle for reconciliation, but I found it a painful ride indeed. I didn't think this was one of Kathleen Eagle's best efforts, but usually I'm a big fan of her books.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite contemporary romance!
Review: Clara and Ben Pipestone's story is moving, emotional, and realistic. The book begins almost 2 years after their separation. It deals with a broken marriage, infidelity, alcoholism, parenting, and family. It is beautifully written and very true-to-life. I usually dislike such seriousness in my books, but the author manages to turn this into an incredibly uplifting book. I loved reading it. Very, very highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Kathleen Eagle is the best!
Review: Nobody developes characters as honestly as Kathleen Eagle. In "Reason to Believe" we are allowed to see into the lives of a family torn apart by alcoholism and infidelity. The story begins with Anna, the teenage daughter, rebelling against her estranged parents by shoplifting and getting drunk. In an effort to reach their daughter, they embark on an arduous winter trail ride in the Dakotas, following the trail of those who died at Wounded Knee. Anna's Lakota grandfather is the spiritual leader and Pipe Bearer. Her parents, Ben and Clara Pipestone, find themselves looking deeper inside themselves, and each another than they'd been able to before. Kathleen Eagle shows incredible insight in dealing with these very difficult issues. The story unfolds naturally, and never feels contrived. I love all of her books that I've read, but this is one of my favorites.

Rating:
Summary: 29 KATHLEEN EAGLE BOOKS AND COUNTING!
Review: Reason to Believe was one of the most true-to-life novels I've read. It covers a journey through true love that includes betrayal. Most of us have too much pride to survive it. Even though the circumstances are never justified, love saw them through it. The deep issues of this book really do almost justify the betrayal. So the question becomes, "Is it better to love him but never let him know I still love him for fear he'll hurt me again, or to risk the hurt and not deny the once-in-a-lifetime love?" Ms. Eagle covers life's issues - always in her books. This is a beautiful book that touches the heart and remains there. It's a huge switch for her. Typically, Ms. Eagle's characters are loyal to the core. This one was a shock, but a tremendous read! Ms. Eagle's latest book comes out this month (Jully 2002) and I've had it on pre-order since April. You'll lose lots of sleep reading her books! She has proven to be timeless!

Rating:
Summary: I believe in Kathleen Eagle's great talent !
Review: This book is a treasure I will keep for ever in my bookcase, and a reading I want to share with others women because of the wealth of its content. Once you have read this book you will never forget the characters and their quest. A spiritual, a human quest not only for a woman, a man and a daughter, but also for a whole Peole. A body-heart-and soul-quest, embracing past,present and future, for Clara and Ben Pipestone, their daughter Anna and all the Lakota people.
Kathleen Eagle is such a wonderfull storyteller that the reader can think he's really part of the riders on the "Big Foot Memorial Ride" journey.
I can reassure every people who could think that the love story has been left only a little place in the book. Here, the very moving love story told by K.Eagle has been offered a first choice place in a wonderfull story! Unlike a lot of romance books I have read before, I dicovered with author Katheen Eagle that a romance book could be much more than a simplistic love story!
A reviewer said he was shoked by the hero's betrayal. To be honest,I wasn't!! K.Eagle pictures real people in her books, real people with real behaviors, people with qualities and shortcomings, with strenghes and weaknesses, with doubtes and believes, but people able to believe in hope, in love, in forgiveness too.
When you go on with this reading you discover the characters, their past, their roots, their psychology, and then you are able to understand a lot of things about the meaning of this betrayal.
And at the end of the book you are able to understand too how and why Clara is able to forgive her's husband's behavior.
So I can tell that for me, Ben is not at all deprived of his sex appeal as a romance book's hero! On the contrary! He's featured as a real man, not as an alpha-male-stereotype!
Oh, and yes, the "intimate moments" between the married couple are delicious and deeply moving! Those who know Kathleen Eagle's writing know what I am talking about. I was laughing and crying in turn. She describes so finely theses moments. And she has a so great talent in "playing with words" in her "intimate dialogues"!
If you want to read a moving, full of hope, finely written love story, between a man in search of his soul's redemption, a women in search of strenght to forgiveness, and a girl who wants to remain "the bridge their parents have built between their two worlds", please, read this one, you will not be disappointed!