Good Hope Road

By Lisa Wingate

Description:

In a time of crisis, two women come together—and set off down a road of hope...
Twenty-year-old Jenilee Lane, whose dreams are as narrow as the sky is wide, doesnÂ’t imagine any good could come out of the tornado that has ripped across the Missouri farmland where she makes her home. But some inner spark compels her to take action. To rescue her elderly neighbor Eudora Gibson from the cellar in which she’s been trapped. To make her way to the nearby town of Poetry, where the townspeople have begun to gather in the only building left standing. To collect from the devastated landscape fragments of life that lie strewn about in the tornado’s wake: letters, photographs, and mementos that might mean something to people who have lost everything.

Book Takeaway:

I wanted to create a book that would celebrate the best in human nature and the ability of good to triumph over destructive forces.

Why the author wrote this book:

Good Hope Road was inspired in part by the events of September 11th, 2001, and in part by a devastating tornado in central Oklahoma. I began writing Good Hope Road long before September 11th. The book was originally inspired by a devastating tornado that swept through Oklahoma City the day after I had been there speaking at a conference and visiting friends. When I saw coverage of the tornado on the news, I kept thinking, "Dear God, we were just there." My husband and I started trying to call friends and loved ones, but the phone lines were down.
As we watched the TV coverage, trying to discern which areas had been hit, the stories about the community banding together gave us a sense of hope. There were so many powerful images, but one in particular stayed with me-that of a girl pulling photographs from the debris near a rural home and saying she didn't know who they belonged to, that they might have been carried from miles away, but she knew someone wanted them back. It was probably only a minute or two of news footage, but it haunted me. Inspired by that image, I began writing Jenilee's story.

By September 11th, the manuscript was completed, and I was about to begin revisions. That September morning, the book took on a completely new meaning for me. In the wake of those horrible events, during those few days when we didn't know what might happen next, I needed to believe that the human spirit, that a community of people, could overcome even the worst tragedy. I wanted to create a book that would celebrate the best in human nature and the ability of good to triumph over destructive forces.

Like the people of Oklahoma City and New York City, the people of Poetry rise to the occasion when challenged. I hope that their triumph will leave readers feeling uplifted. It is always my intention, my desire to write stories in which characters grow to a fuller understanding of their world, themselves, and their spirituality. I like stories that end happily, and even though happy endings are sometimes criticized as being "pat" or unrealistic, that is where my heart goes as a writer, as a reader, and as a human being. I want to believe that all things are possible, in writing and in life.