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Deep in the Heart |
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 Deep in the Heart bySharon Oard Warner Dial Press 352 pages, 2000 ISBN 038532006X Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart Deep in the Heart takes a refreshingly different point of view on abortion - from the father’s perspective. Taut and fast-paced, there isn’t any fancy prose, morality preaching, or lengthy philosophical lectures in this well written debut novel by Sharon Oard Warren. Forty-year-old Hannah Solace does not consider herself the motherly type. That role goes to her younger sister, Helen. Helen’s ability to display the tenderness and devotion a child requires is out of Hannah’s reach. Yet, Hannah does not despise children - she dolts on Helen’s four offspring and is the assistant principal of an Austin, Texas, high school. With children, she is stern, but fair. When she finds herself pregnant for the first time, she knows deep within her soul that a child would not thrive with her for a mother. However, Hannah’s artist husband, Carl, is ecstatic. He has wanted a child for many years. A child will restore their marriage and bring him the peace he has been struggling to find. Hannah is initially torn between having the baby for Carl and Helen’s sake, and aborting the pregnancy. Without consulting Carl, Hannah decides on abortion. When she arrives at the clinic, members of the non-denominational church, Gospel Fellowship, are protesting. Hannah shoves her way through the crowd, not giving them a second thought. Carl arrives shortly thereafter, cheered by the protestors, and pushes himself past the nurses and security guards. When he realizes that he is too late to save his child’s life, Carl anguish is overwhelming. I felt as if I had been punched in the stomach when I read this scene. Hannah’s decision to abort doesn’t end there. The protestors outside the clinic, led by Dr. Bill and Mattie, a God-fearing grandmother, track her down, and the others who had abortions that same day (how this is done is reported in Chapter Seven), and begin a hate campaign of their own. During the night, the protestors graffiti "Murderer" and "Babykiller" onto the women’s homes. News coverage of the vandalism creates mayhem as the townspeople jam the streets to catch a glimpse of the women and the protestors' handiwork. Carl, devastated by the loss of the child and the resulting media frenzy, finds solace in his art, his job as manager at a mall bookstore manager, and Penny Reed, Mattie’s granddaughter and owner of Penelope’s Balloons and Bouquets. Fortunately, Warner didn’t capitulate to the temptation to develop a romance between the two. Set against the backdrop of Helen’s complete disapproval and her own unhappy marriage, along with Mattie and Penny’s relationship, and Penny’s own mother’s failed attempt at abortion, the characters are charismatic and complex. There is only one stereotypical character: Dr. Bill, the motorcycle-riding hippie preacher. Deep in the Heart provides a wonderful example of the vehement nature of both sides of the abortion issue without making judgements or taking sides. Every time I tried to put this book down, I felt it calling to me. I kept returning to its pages until I reached the end. |
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