Disowned by her family, except her grandmother; Kendall needs a source of income to support her extravagant spending habits.  With no aspirations for employment, Kendall decides to rent three bed rooms in the house her grandmother had arranged for her.  Because her dilapidated house is in an upscale neighborhood, Kendall advertises the house as more than ideal with the rent to match.

Three single, young females, strangers in fact, apply and pass the Diva-Kendall interview to become her new tenants.  Each tenant has a different reason for going-out on her own, yet together they find common ground: the house had been falsely advertised, the rent is pricey, and Kendall is a piece of work.  Together the tenants restore the house to its original beauty, while building deep friendships and overlooking Kendall’s temper-tantrums, bulimia, and alcoholism.

Each character and her dark secret are uniquely developed throughout the book.  By pooling their strengths and supporting each other emotionally, each tenant attains closure to her secret and is able to then intervene in Kendall’s life.  The common thread is forgiveness.

Initially the book is slow moving and then switches into high gear.  The author has included an unbelievable thirty-six hours into each twenty-four hour day.  The events and relationships that develop with-in the book would not occur as rapidly in real-life.  Only in a novel can vocation, restoration, and relations occur over-night.

Although life circumstances may vary among the readers, I guarantee each will find a character with whom to relate.  The themes of restoration, forgiveness, and courage are found right through the book; and the reader can draw spiritual applications for her own life.  I recommend this book to the young adult, female reader.

June 27, 2008