Six Miles from Nashville by Elaine Littau (@nansjourney)

Six Miles from Nashville is one of a number of stirring books from the inspirational, Texas based author, Elaine Littau. It deals with the trials and tribulations of a young lady named, Betty Barnes. When we first meet Betty she is miles away from her Oklahoma home and very, VERY pregnant. Lost, alone and extremely ill, she finds work at a diner six miles from Nashville. Here Betty sees a glimmer of hope. Perhaps she can turn things around. We are then taken on an emotional rollercoaster ride as Betty searches for forgiveness from her family, her friends, her God and, perhaps most importantly, herself.

This is an incredibly well-crafted tale and, I suspect, not the last we will hear of young Betty. Beginning with the, frankly harrowing, first chapter, Ms Littau runs the gamut of the emotional spectrum. From Joy to despair, and several stops in between, raw emotions are dealt with in a consummately professional way. The story, therefore never descends into a maudlin spectacle and the characters remain firmly grounded in reality, dealing with (or not dealing with) the emotional turmoil in much the same ways as we would.

This is not merely a story of pain and hardship it is largely about forgiveness, compassion and understanding and these themes are often explored using passages from the Gospels. It is at this point I feel it is important for me to admit that I am an atheist. (I hope Ms Littau will forgive me this wickedness) I reveal this only because I think it emphasises the strength of this story. I did not skip the biblical references and they certainly did not detract from the narrative, indeed, most of the time they informed the text and added to the multi-dimensional nature of the characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Moving and powerful, I finished it in a single sitting

*****

This is a great story that I have no hesitation in giving 5 stars and I hope to visit Betty again in the future.

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