Dr. Charles N. Toftoy reviews FACES BEHIND THE STONE -Author Fran Lewis

FIVE STARS for Faces Behind the Stones: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Review of 'Faces Behind the Stones', January 6, 2013
By
toftoy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faces Behind the Stones (Paperback)
I live near Arlington Cemetery. Sometimes, walking around the gravestones, I wonder what it would be like if some of those buried, could rise up for a few minutes and tell me what happened to them.

Fran Lewis, through her extreme creativity, has done this for us in her wonderful, thought-provoking novel, 'Faces Behind The Stones'. Lewis relates seven short stories about seven different people, allowing us to hear their voices from behind their gravestones.The dead are talking to us in real-time. What can be more interesting than that? As Katie says, in the sixth story, "Listen to my story. Hear my voice." Fran Lewis wrote a Prologue and Epilogue for each story.

Here are some clips that highlight the intrigue portrayed in each story. #1: MJ- "So, I'm rotting away in this disgusting place,all alone..."; "Find out who put me here." This is about MJ's bout with nursing home abuse. #2: Virginia- "What happens when you are wrongly accused and no one cares."; "...we are tarnished and diseased and not worth being near.";" The heinous charges against me were invented to force me to retire,...";"Administrators(school) have too much power and often they abuse it..."; "...assume guilt by word of an untrustworthy student or an adult out for revenge.";"When you are not guilty you need to fight..." #3: Belinda- "...having no one to talk to with and share any thoughts, fears and questions." #4: John- "All I know is that they have no time for me." Lewis provides warning signs for teen suicide. She describes a school suicide prevention program. #5: Tom- His parents gave him no credit. "...my brother was into buying andselling body parts for profit." ;"...many of his patients never made it to the recovery room."; "Never play God with the lives of others..." #6: Katie- "When they added an IV with meds, they did not consider what the end result would be..."; "...sometimes money makes strange bedfellows." #7: Don- He received a telephone call. "I know who you really are and what you did."; "Every near death experience has a short-lived silver lining."; "Sometimes your past becomes your present."

If this review doesn't incite you to run out and buy Lewis's book, then I've missed the mark. There are so many lessons to learn from this relatively short book(174 pages) that one can apply to our own lives. In short, this is a must read. Dr. Charles N. Toftoy