Category: Literary Fiction Publisher: Origins Publishing Company
ISBN-10: 0979093236
Type: Fiction
Pages: 330
Copyright: February 1, 2012
ISBN-13: 9780979093234
An intriguing and creative novel-like diet-guide book that peels back the masks of broken hearts to assist in healing individuals mind, body and spirit.
Motivational Speaker, Author and Fitness Guru Bridgette Collins taps into the world of broken hearts and battered souls through her new book, "Broken In Plain Sight."
The book highlights the struggle of Uncle Bert, a successful business owner and state representative, who has carried around the guilt and regret of not coming to the aid of his now deceased sister, Saddie. Uncle Bert's refusal to help Saddie, a struggling, young, single mother with four girls, left Saddie hurt, broken and unable to save her girls from lives of murder, incest, physical abuse and mental illness as a result of poverty. Through Bert's effort to rebuild his family from their reckless behavior and destructive lifestyle behaviors, secrets that threaten to ruin the family legacy begin to unravel.
Bridgette successfully draws the reader into a story of hurt, family secrets, public corruption and suicide which later leads to truth, healing and love.
"Broken in Plain Sight" is only one of Bridgette's book series that all engages readers through real-life turmoil that are aimed to educate and empower individuals to make their health and fitness a priority.
Excerpt
Uncle Bert sat in the chair at the head of the table and said, “In
response to Edward and all of you, we have some family issues that
run deep and now cross generations. I love you all and our family
too much to leave things where they are. For you all in particular, it’s
good to remember the past and learn from it. But, you all have settled
into the past, and doing so has affected your lives tremendously
through the years. It’s time that you stop looking behind and start
looking ahead. If you hang onto anger and resentment, you’re only
hurting yourself and your families.”
“For once I agree with Edward. Where did this Uncle Bert come
from? What’s with the dispensing of sincere sounding and caring
comments?” Melissa asked. “I, too, asked you for money years ago
when my husband left me. I was evicted from my home with two
small kids. We had to go live in a homeless shelter. All I wanted
you to do was help me get caught up on my mortgage. Today, after
raising two kids, I’m fifty years old, still trying to play catch-up
from how my ex left me with nothing but a bunch of bills.”
“In a homeless shelter?” Edward repeated.
“Yes,” Melissa said.
“Who goes to a homeless shelter?” Edward asked. “That’s like
for people on the streets. Prostitutes and drug addicts.”
“It’s for people who don’t have folks in their lives to care enough
about them to take them in or give them money to help them get
on their feet,” Melissa responded.
“Edward and Melissa, I deeply regret not being there for you,
or better yet, not telling you why I couldn’t help you,” Uncle Bert
said apologetically. “Frankly, at that time, I saw in front of myself a
damaged family. And I didn’t want to be associated with it. So I put
my sister, your mothers, and everything else behind me and didn’t
look back.”
“Every time I see you on TV talking about your youth-to-work
program and your medical assistance for the poor, I get sick. I say
to myself, He’s such a hypocrite,” Melissa said.
“Uncle Bert, we weren’t your responsibility. We should have
been able to count on our parents. They were negligent. Their own
personal problems took them away from what should have been
their focus,” Dillard said.
Uncle Bert reminded them of a troubling and tragic past that
had caused them to either conceal or act out their feelings of anger,
bitterness, pain, resentment, and discontent.
“Don’t let your anger toward me or an inability to resolve and
settle the memories of your childhood prevent you from fulfilling
God’s plan for your life. A prayer I have for all of you is to be free
from the demons haunting you. It’s time to reconcile your past. If
you believe, you can overcome the twists and turns of life. And that
is the sort of strength and resilience you want to pass down to your
children and our family’s generations to come. I learned late in life
that to resolve the existing thoughts and feelings of a tumultuous
past, you sometime have to sit with the past before you can walk
away from it,” replied Uncle Bert.
Determined to confront the hazy memories of his troubled youth, Oliver Matthews, a retired detective and confirmed bachelor, returns to the picturesque town of Henley-on-Thames for the first time in years.
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"Murder isn't usually this fun
What causes America's mainstream media to fear and try to destroy a group of artists and their work? What happens when such a creative movement grows in strength and threatens media's bottom line? Why would extremists find it necessary to take acti
