Lay It On My Heart

Set during a challenging August in the religious town of East Winder, Kentucky, 'Lay It On My Heart' is a coming-of-age debut novel centered on thirteen-year-old Charmaine Peake. Charmaine's life has been upended: her father, the last in a line of local holy men, has been committed to a psychiatric institution, and her sure-minded grandmother has suffered a stroke. Due to these circumstances, Charmaine and her mother, whose relationship is strained, are forced to relocate to a tiny trailer by the river. At church, a place that has always offered certainty, Charmaine's faith is tested when she discovers a dark and confusing secret belonging to her archrival, a sanctimonious missionary kid. The book is a moving and often hilarious portrait of mothers and daughters and a family weathering a crisis, ultimately marking out the realities of growing up, the strength found in true friendship, and the power of discovering and accepting who you are.

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