Author: Fiona McCallum
ISBN: 9781743692400
RRP: $29.99
Fiona McCallum has penned six Australian bestsellers, Leap of Faith is her seventh novel and set in the picturesque Adelaide Hills.
All of the books I have read by McCallum have been set in South Australia but this is the first in my neck of the woods. I’m not sure exactly where the farm is but I’m familiar with the surrounding towns and the roads mentioned so it had a very familiar feel to me right from the start.
I am not sure where my headspace is at just of late but it is affecting my reading and my empathy with heroines. I enjoyed the premise of Leap of Faith which has McCallum’s signature writing style and well drawn characters. Her animals are characters in their own right and you can’t help but be drawn to them. My issue was I couldn’t connect to lead character Jessica, I couldn’t get past some of her attitudes and decisions.
In the early pages Jessica has a traumatic accident in the middle of a horse riding event; leaving her hospitalised but thankfully her horse Prince suffers only a few scratches. Jessica’s broken ankle means she is out of action for six weeks with little to occupy her. The extremely capable, physical and independent Jessica is unable to ride, unable to teach and perhaps the most frustrating she is unable to care for her horses or help husband Steve on the farm.
All of this time off her feet gives Jessica way too much time to think, and to question EVERYTHING. A lot of her self evaluation is to be expected and completely natural but it seemed to me that she got a little melodramatic about it all for a while there. Jessica is concerned about the loss of condition in her horses and all of the extra responsibility on her husband looking after them so she rushes into a decision that those around her think she will come to regret. And, to top it all off she tries to isolate herself at home away from the entire horse community, and her town, because she’s not ready to face anyone.
Jessica is given time to look at her career so far and analyse what she has achieved, and why. Her pit of self-pity is quite deep but I think it needed to be for her to grow and tackle things from a different angle. The time and distance from her competition offer a very different perspective and allow her to recognise things she had never noticed throughout her career, and her rash decision allowed a second chance at happiness.
Faith is the rundown and forlorn horse Steve brings home from a clearing sale, after Jessica has sold hers. There’s a lot at play here and it seems quite obvious that Steve picked up the horse to try and rekindle Jessica’s passion but she is determined to keep her distance. It turns out that Faith affected Steve in a way he wasn’t expecting and he just couldn’t bear to leave the horse behind.
Every character has a story and Faith is no different, her story is heartbreaking and she too needs a second chance. The slow unfolding of Faith’s story broke my heart. It was beautiful to watch the blossoming relationship and growth of trust between Faith and Jessica as they both had a lot to learn.
Leap of Faith is an aptly named and beautifully told story of love, loss and second chances. It tells a tale of self discovery and demonstrates the need for honesty and the importance of in sickness and in health, and sharing with your partner because trying to hide it and struggle through alone hurts both of you.
A beautiful weekend read for a journey to the lush greenery of the picturesque Adelaide Hills.
Leap of Faith is book #14 for Australian Women Writers Challenge 2015.
For more about Fiona and to get a look at all of her titles you can find her on Facebook, her website and the Harlequin website.
We have copies of Leap of Faith to giveaway to 5 of our lucky readers. If you want to be one of them tell us in the comments below about an injury that had you out of action and appreciating all the things you take for granted.
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I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
i had a calf muscle strain and I couldn’t exercise and felt so out of sorts, needed fitness in my life to make me feel good, and appreciate the help and support of my partners patience when in excruciating pain
when I was 10 years old I was riding my bike around my neighbourhood one of my neighbours were in the process of fixing their roof and had a pile of roof tin sitting in their yard being a curious child I rode closer to investigate slicing my middle toe on the tin in the process I dropped my bike and took off home I told my mum I had cut my toe in a total panic my mum knowing that I’m a drama queen told me to calm down as she casually collected a bandaid for my cut expecting it to be no more than a scratch needless to say once she took a close look we were off the the hospital where I received 22 stitches in my toe and a tetanus shot mum was told that I was very lucky as I had only just avoided cutting my tendent after that I had to wear a bandage on my foot and be on crutches for 6 weeks unfortunately all this occurred right before a family holiday we had planned meaning while everyone else was enjoying swimming and roller skating and all that the fun the resort had to offer I had to sit on the side line and watch. I will never take the use of my foot for granted again.
I was in a car accident where my car did a 360 and the window shards fell on top of me. I only suffered whiplash thankfully but you can’t take anything for granted. Appreciate life.
I had a migraine head which triggered a seizure, resulting in me falling face down fracturing my nose and depositing a pool of blood on the floor. I rang my local GP but he was in theatre. A few minutes later I had another seizure and fell on my back, bruised my left shoulder right into the bone and wrenched my neck. My nose resulted in a bruise from just below my right eye down to the side of my mouth even though I had an ice pack on it for awhile. The problem after the second one was I was unable to get up which resulted in an Ambulance being called instead of going to hospital by car. One hospital was diverting to another which resulted in longer waiting time and I kept losing and regaining consciousness. As I don’t jerk around during a seizure the triage staff weren’t aware of them. Until I fractured my nose I wasn’t aware that when you exert yourself in other ways, that I would trigger pain in my nose which had ceased.
I fell of my horse and broke my right leg, being an active person I found it difficult not being able to do anything and relying on other people.I recovered and appreciated my freedom, independence and help from the staff in the hospital, love , and support from friends and family!
Breaking a leg or arm can be so restrictive and frustrating you get so sick of sitting back watch. Not being able to participate can be annoying.
Last year I developed a trapped nerve in my lower back, it was agonising to do anything, sitting, walking, sleeping all caused me pain. My chiro took x-rays to make sure I didn’t have a spinal tumour, luckily I didn’t which was a huge relief. The pain gradually went away after about 6 months and I’m now just grateful to be able to do the simple things in life without constant pain.
I was at work im a cleaner I was walking into a kitchen there was a pool of water on the floor I couldn’t see it because the sun was shining threw the window and all the lights were on I went flying up and landed heavily on my back I have now been left with sciatica all in my back and down the left hand side of my body which I will have forever so lots of pain and restrictions in life .but I must keep my chin up and smile could have been a lot worse I could have been paralysed .
I was playing football and I got fluid on the knee very painful.could not walk on it for a week
Well I have had a few accidents that made me appreciate the small things in and as a mother definitely appreciate being able to kick a ball with my boys . I definitely even now appreciate the simple task as putting on a bra !