Q2 Covenant Child

This week I finished all 305 pages of Covenant Child, by Terri Blackstock. It was a fascinating book about keeping promises. One quote that sums up the story is, “It isn’t because of money. It never was. It’s because of a promise made to a man I don’t remember… by a woman I thought I hated,” (40, 304). The story begins with Amanda falling in love and marrying Jack Holbrooke. She soon discovers that he is the son of the Holbrookes, who own HolCorp, a billion dollar corporation. He also has twin little three year old girls, Lizzie and Kara, from a previous marriage. Their mother was killed in a car crash just a few weeks after their birth. After only six months of marriage, Jack and his parents board a plane to go to a wedding, but Amanda stays home to care for the sick girls. She loves them as her own and they too love her. The plane goes down and everyone is killed, leaving Amanda the business, estate, and all the money. The only thing she is not allowed to keep is the only thing she cares about and wants; the girls. Her adoption papers were not finalized before Jack died, and despite her promise to him to take care of the girls should anything happen, they are taken. After a lengthy court case the judge rules to give the girls to Deke and Eloise, Jack’s first wife’s parents, from whom she ran away from at the age of fifteen. They are awarded 10 million dollars to care for the girls. They steal, gamble the money, abuse the girls, and leave them to fend for themselves. The twins grow up poorly, drinking, gambling, doing drugs, and sleeping with anyone. Amanda is not allowed to visit, and Deke and Eloise have told the girls she is evil. So when Amanda shows up on their 18th birthday, Kara refuses to trust her. Lizzie does though and leaves with Amanda for a life filled with love and comfort. Kara grows to hate this woman who seems too good to be true. She marries Rudy who eventually starts to abuse her and one night almost kills her. She finally runs away to Amanda and lives with her, learning of the love she turned down. This story was very complex and captivating. I really enjoyed this book and would really recommend it. There is a very interesting underlying message. Towards the end you realize that the story is not what it seems to be, but that all the character represents something else. I will leave the message and underlying story up for you to decide!