Not a Sparrow Falls

September 1, 2002
Romance novelist Nichols (Handyman) enters the Christian market with this contemporary tale of love and suspense. Abandoning her godly upbringing after the siblings she raised for years are placed in foster care, Mary Bridget ("Bridie") Washburn flees the hills of Virginia with a man who forces her into a life of crime. She eventually reports him to the police and strikes out on her own. Assuming a new identity, Bridie lives a quiet life until she meets a teenaged girl begging God for help. Alasdair MacPherson, the girl's father, is a widowed pastor struggling to raise three children after his wife's suicide. When he hires Bridie as a nanny for his troubled family, her faith is rekindled, and she and Alasdair slowly fall in love. But their happiness is threatened when the man Bridie sent to jail is released and tracks her down seeking vengeance. Although the drama created by the suicide of Alasdair's wife offsets the stock characters and predictable plot, the characters' cool acceptance of it and lack of moral condemnation of her or the deed may trouble more conservative Christian readers. For larger collections.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2002
Nichols' "Not a Sparrow Falls "opens with the escape of Mary Bridget Washburn, an Appalachian girl on the verge of womanhood, from her boyfriend and his cohorts, who run a meth lab. With a false identity and a little cash, Mary flees for the upscale city of Alexandria, where she falls in love with a widowed pastor who is beset with troubles involving his children and his job. And poor Mary--now calling herself Bridie Collins--may carry too much baggage to be of any help. Mary and the reverend are both somewhat idealized, but Nichols doesn't jerk them around eliciting sobs; she strikes a realistic, original note with a dash of humor. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)