Dust by Eva Marie Everson

Dust by Eva Marie Everson starts out with Allison Middleton, a young nineteen-year-old girl receiving a proposal from Westley Houser in 1977. The couple gets married are immediately struggling as Westley tells Allison that he already has a child from a one-night-stand with Cindie. Allisons helps Westley raise his daughter, Michelle, as her own child, while she deals with infertility. She also goes from a young bride to grandmother throughout the book.

Everson writes beautifully in Dust. I have read her books before and truly enjoyed them. However, even though I think the writing is beautiful and the story flows wonderfully, I have to admit I didn't honestly LIKE this story through much of the book. I didn't like how Westley and Allison's marriage started out with him not being truthful to her. I didn't like Cindie and how she lived her life--as well as some of the other people she connected with. At the same time, I thought the book was realistic in that these sort of relationships really do happen. No one is perfect and life isn't perfect. We also sometimes love people in spite of the things they do wrong. In that way, I thought Dust seemed to be true to life. 

I did like how Everson wrapped everything up at the end. It was an ending that gives pause to reflecting on both the characters throughout the book, as well as a bit on your own life. The book's title, Dust, is based on the Kansas song, Dust in the Wind, which is a song I know and like. At the beginning of the book, Westley and Allison talk about this song as it is on the radio as they start their new life. They also talk about Genesis 3:19 about how we are dust and shall return to dust. I could understand how Allison reflected on her life and wondered if she really accomplished much. As the question on the back of the book says, "Can an ordinary life leave an extraordinary legacy?" I thought it was great that Michelle overcame so much and used her life for good because of Wesley and Allison's example. However, it doesn't always work out that way. 

As far as spirituality, there are a few references to going to youth group and church. Also, Allison's sister, Julie, marries a Christian man that there are a few references to but otherwise there isn't a lot of spiritual talk going on through the book either. Instead, I think Dust is a book where life lessons are mainly learned through the story itself.

I received a copy of Dust courtesy of the author through JustRead Tours. All opinions within this review are my own.