The Oak Leaves
Fiction
By Maureen Lang
Copyright 2007
Multnomah Publishing
In a clever flip-flop of storyline, Maureen Lang has effectively
demonstrated the concerns and fears that face this generation
are not new nor without a champion for our cause. The reader
is shown Cosima’s story through the eyes of Talie Ingram,
whose idyllic life is shattered with the growing realization that
her beautiful toddler son may have a developmental disability.
And as the reader is drawn into Cosima’s story, that of Talie’s
nineteenth century ancestor, the reader begins to identify with
Talie’s growing horror that her son is developmentally delayed.
The author herself has a child with fragile X syndrome, a
debilitating condition affecting the developing child and
causing mental impairment resembling autism. And it is this
personal experience that gives the book a feel of authenticity.
The condition is passed on through the mother’s gene. Each
child conceived by the carrier has a fifty-fifty percent chance of
having fragile X syndrome. The story educates the reader sans
medical jargon and terminology, simply drawing the reader into
the lives of these two women. Each must overcome the fear of
conception and the risks to the unborn child. Each must learn
to trust in God’s purpose and design even in the face of such
disappointment.
This book gives the reader a double header both in
contemporary and historical flavor. Maureen Lang has woven a
powerful story and demonstrates her skill, not only as an expert
storyteller, but as a student of the human condition. She is to
be applauded for her willingness to draw from her own pain and
suffering to provide the reader with such a warm portrait of this
affliction. I highly recommend this read.
Review by
Linda Rondeau
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