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Book Reviews for An Abandoned Woman: Found by God (a memoir)

An Abandoned Woman: Found by God (a memoir)

by Charese Nicole

Emaculate Publishing; June 27, 2006 / Hardcover ISBN: 1931855404 / A Memoir / Inspirational
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS submit yours

Foreword by Denise Hill "The Gospel Lady" - Radio Personality of WKYS 93.9 FM
As we exist thousands of years past biblical time, the record of countless broken souls and the hardened hearts of abandoned women throughout the world continue to accumulate. Whether from an absentee father or a lost love, the unfortunate coincidence is that everyone seems to have a story. “An Abandoned Woman: Found by God” is one such story.

Charese Nicole offers herself and her personal history as a blue print to follow from abandonment to security, from dependence to liberty, and from emptiness to self-worth. Like the adulterous woman in the Bible, she was dragged in public (before family, church, and friends), and her personal betrayal and shame exposed as she was left to bear the burden alone. Much like the Samaritan woman she accepted the situation as it was and sought a way to exist within its boundaries for sanity sake. Yet like Hannah, her emotions on her sleeve, she cried, questioned, and agonized. She was an abandoned woman.

But yet, like these biblical figures, Charese found the common key to success, fulfillment, and acceptance that also promises to free other present-day abandoned women.

She learned a valuable lesson, renewing her mind and changing the way she saw herself and the purpose of her abandonment. As promised “all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28).” The term "all things" includes being abandoned.

Charese was fortunate enough to find some purpose in her abandonment and move forward in life and in Christ. As you read her words, use them as a guide and search for personal and Godly understanding of your own abandonment or the abandonment of someone near you.

--Denise Hill "The Gospel Lady," radio personality
"Sunday Morning Worship and Praise" on WKYS 93.9 FM (Washington, DC)

Reviewed by Rebekah L. Pierce - Average Girl, The Magazine
I am the child of an abandoned woman. My father left our family when I was 12 and I will never forget the pain and heartache his decision had on my mother. But the great thing about my mother was that she didn’t let a ruined marriage destroy her love for self or love for God. An Abandoned Woman: Found by God, by Charese Nicole, is probably the closest I could ever get to how my mother actually felt without hearing it from her personally. I was immediately impressed in the beginning with Ms. Nicole’s pain and self-doubt as a woman who felt that she had given her husband everything a man could want and then some. But like most women in this country, she forgot to leave the best part to God: her joy and spirit.

Ms. Nicole’s honesty about her feelings and desires in many ways over powers her memoir. The last few chapters are more of a reflection of her talks with God and rightly so, but I found myself wanting to know more about the details of her interactions with her former husband and even with other people. I wanted to see exactly where in these interactions God was working on her because her pain was so profound that it might leave some readers who are not familiar with God wondering how could she have “come through” so quickly and so assured. When she came home that day to find that her husband had taken all of the furniture, everything, I wanted to read more about how she explained that to her children. How does one explain that to the children? There has to be more to the story.

But what I can honestly say about Ms. Nicole’s memoir is that it definitely paints the picture of how deeply painful it is to be abandoned by someone who professes to love you. Her poem, “Questions,” clearly outlines the movement of her thoughts as she was going through her crisis. Each question is packed with resentment, pain, humiliation and dare I say, despair and anger at God for not providing her with the questions.

Abandoned Woman reads more like a rehashing of a dialogue she had with God and self than a memoir, but that’s its strong point in many ways. However, there definitely needs to be more to the story because the pain of retelling it warrants it. I rejoiced at the fact that she learned what real joy is and that she reconnected with a God who loves her unconditionally. Ms. Nicole has done well with her memoir, but I want her to give us more. And that is the mark of a good writer: when the author leaves the reader wanting to know more.

--Rebekah Pierce, publisher & editor-in-chief
Average Girl, The Magazine

Reviewed by Minister Carolyn White-Splawn - Radio Announcer of Melodies and More Internet Radio
I am the Mother of Charese Nicole and I just wanted to say how Godly proud I am of her. When I sat down to read her book, I wondered if this was the same little girl I had raised. I read it over and over again wondering, "is this what she went through?"

I began to cry just seeing how far God has brought her. Some of the things she mentioned in the book really took me by surprise even though I thought I knew. You know how it is; you think you know everything about your children, but you really don't.

I do believe that it is God who gave Nicole the inspiration and revelation to sit and put on paper what was in her heart and what she has endured. I also believe that it will help so many other young women who are going through the same things and feel like there is no hope. I cannot put into words how this book has blessed and helped me. I encourage every women to read about Nicole and how God has delivered her.

--Minister Carolyn White-Splawn, Gospel recording artist & radio announcer
Melodies and More Internet Radio

OTHER REVIEWS submit yours

Reviewed by Bishop Eugene Reeves - New Life Anointed Ministries Int'l
An Abandoned Woman Found by God is a must read for all women who feel alone and rejected by life. This book has been a personal inspiration to me and all who have experienced rejection in any form. She demonstrates courage and as well as reflects the optimistic faith of one who has found peace with God the Father of us all.

Charese is an outstanding young woman with a tremendous gift. Look foward to hearing more from her in the future.

--Bishop Eugene Reeves, Senior Pastor & Founder
New Life Anointed Ministries, International (Woodbridge, VA)

Reviewed by Pastor Tony Ares - The Hill Ministry
As I began reading this book, my wife asked me 'what's it about'. Without knowing, I sighed and said that it was a Christian Waiting to Exhale. I was so wrong. An Abandoned Woman transcends the current culture of male bashing books. The author provides authentic answers and digs within her own soul for truth. This book convicts and inspires you at the same time. I am a better person for reading it.

--Pastor Tony Ares
The Hill Ministry (Virginia)

AUTHOR REVIEWS submit yours

Reviewed by Lynnelle Harrell, MSW
Charese's story is "our" story. Her pain, thoughts and words have been and still are experienced by not only women but mankind. There's just something about knowing that you are not the only one going through--not the only one that has been abandoned, forgotten, mistreated, misunderstood and used. There is power and strength in knowing that you are not alone in your struggle and that not only has someone else gone through what you have or are experiencing, but they have overcome and are not merely surviving but thriving, which is evident all throughout Charese's story. Because of Charese's willingness to share her story, readers worldwide will gain encouragement, strength, motivation and the security in knowing that the same God that brought her through will do the same for them. Charese eloquently describes in one of her poems, her life story as a play whose end is rewritten by her Heavenly Father. While our life story may have different characters and scenes, the "theme" is the same. On our own, we are all lost and abandoned without true and lasting hope, but just as the end of Charese's story was changed and her life transformed, so it can and will be with you. An Abandoned Woman: Found by God is the perfect illustration of what we are called to do: to comfort others who are in distress and going through a storm with the same comfort we have received from our Heavenly Father as we experience distress and go through storms. Because of Charese's courage to share her story in An Abandoned Woman: Found by God, many people will be comforted, strengthened and transformed, and they too will then be able to comfort and strengthen others as they share their stories.

--Lynnelle Harrell, MSW (Master of Social Work)
Author of Poetic Journey (Richmond, VA)

Reviewed by Vicky Evans, author
Let me just simply say, "I absolutely love this book!"

--Vicky Evans (Woodbridge, VA)
Author of The Art of Forgiving

Reviewed by M. Renae Spencer, author
Charese Nicole is a delightful writer. An Abandoned Woman: Found by God is a “must-read” for any woman, whether single or married, who has been abandoned by her companion. Through prose and poetry, Charese walks her readers through the four stages of loss to a fifth stage--victory through a renewed relationship with God. She also illustrates how God prunes and purges his chosen vessels creating a new heart and a right spirit that worships Him and Him alone. These writings will be life-changing for those who have been devastated by abandonment.

--M. Renae Spencer (Atlanta GA)
Author of Pearls from the Soul
President of Dante's Publishing

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