Broken Wings
Carla Stewart
Faith Words, Jun 3 2011, $13.99
ISBN: 9780446556569
In Tulsa, Gabe and Mitzi Steiner have been married for six decades and enjoyed a wonderful singing pair during most of their time together. Recently Alzheimer’s has struck Gabe so the jazz duet no longer performs together.
To fill her time so as to avoid the anguish of watching her beloved Gabe slowly vanish under the weight of his illness, Mitzi volunteers as a "Pink Lady" at Tulsa County Hospital. She becomes upset when paralegal Brooke Woodson arrives at the ER; as she recognizes the signs of domestic abuse from when she was a victim of her papa’s rage as a child. Mitzi and Brooke form a sisterhood of sorts as each has suffered abuse with the younger woman the victim of the rages of fiancé.
This is an engaging tale held together by a strong female protagonist who knows first hand the ups and downs of life. The story line is terrific when it looks at the past and present of the Steiner couple who loved each other for six decades but now struggle with crippling Alzheimer’s. The plot loses some of its emotional potency when it turns to contemporary abuse as that segue feels forced, adds too much angst, and detracts from the super profound biography of Gabe and Mitzi as she understands the final curtain call is coming soon.
Harriet Klausner
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