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Lisa Wingate is a fantastic author. Another winning story, narrated well, recommended.

FROM AMAZON: When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out the rambling Victorian house.

Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola's walls, but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully decorated prayer boxes, one for each year, dating from Iola's youth to her last days. Hidden in the boxes is the story of a lifetime, written on random bits of paper - the hopes and wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex woman passing through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life, filled with journeys of faith, observations on love, and one final lesson that could change everything. ( )

I first gave the book 4.5 stars, but I realized how much I enjoyed the book as I was retelling the plot of the book to my mother. It's just such a wonderful feel-good book. The kind that leaves you happy when you have finished reading it.

The Prayer Box is the first book in the Carolina Heirlooms series. There are also a couple of novellas you can read. I've read the last book in this series; The Sea Keeper's Daughters before I read this one and I was so enthralled by the book that I wanted to read the previous books in the trilogy.

Tandi Jo Reese has fled her old life and arrived on the Hatteras Island with her two children where she is renting a cottage that belongs to Iola Anne Poole. When Iola Anne Poole dies is Tandi worried that she wouldn't be allowed to stay at the cottage and she has no job and not much money left to support herself and her children. But she is lucky and she gets to stay if she cleans out Iola Anne Poole's house. There she discovers prayer boxes filled with letters that tell Iola Anne Poole life. While she reads the letters she discovers a new side to Iola Anne Poole that no one knows about and at the same time Tandi herself change. She get's a job and suddenly life seems a lot brighter...

I loved this story because you got to follow Tandi as she transforms from the wreck she was when she came to Hatteras Island to a new stronger person that's not controlled by the past. She is not a very good mother and she has a new boyfriend that isn't much better than the one she left behind in her old life. But reading the letters and making new friends slowly turns her life around.

I enjoy reading books that have a parallel storyline and this was one especially good. It manages to not cross the line to become too saccharine. I was annoyed with Tandi's boyfriend Ross and Gina, Tandi's sister, but they played their roles in the story. They had to be there to make her realize that she could turn her life around and not be the person she was before. I was really proud of Tandi towards the end of the book.

I wrote in my review for The Sea Keeper's Daughters that you can read the books as stand-alone, but I would personally recommend you to read them from the beginning, because Tandi has a small part in The Sea Keeper's Daughters (don't know yet if she's in the second book) and it's probably more fun to read them in the right order. ( )

Title: The Prayer Box (A Carolina Heirlooms Novel #1)
Author: Lisa Wingate
Pages: 400
Year: 2019
Publisher: Tyndale House
My rating: 5+ out of 5 stars
For me, Lisa Wingate is a brand-new author I ran across while perusing an online bookstore. When I saw how many reviews this novel received and read the synopsis, I was hooked. After reading the book, I was in awe of the way the story moved me. At first, I was lost in the story, not sure what was happening or where the author was taking me. As pages were read and more of the tale was revealed, I just kept reading until the end.
The Prayer Box is a story of a lady whose past was littered with pain and disappointment, yet she didn’t dwell there in self-pity. Iola Anne Poole passes away in her home at an old age in a small town where people thought they knew her and shunned for good reason. But no one really knew this lady, including the single mom (Tandi Jo Resse) and her two kids who rented the cottage on her property. When Tandi finds Iola, she feels scared about what the unknown future might bring to her family who has already suffered so much. Tandi is hired to help begin cleaning out the home while the property goes through estate. What Tandi finds is a closet filled with prayer boxes of many shapes and sizes, containing letters that Iola wrote to her father, her heavenly Father.
Throughout the book audiences will be moved to see how Iola’s letters will change hearts and lives of Tandi and the community who thought they knew her. When the historic home that Iola has lived in is threatened with destruction, will the past that is unveiled be enough to save the home? Lisa Wingate has done a masterful job of weaving a tale that is sure to entertain and engage the audience from start to finish. I bought another Lisa Wingate novel to read and hope others will read her books too!
Note: The opinions shared in this review are solely my responsibility. ( )

It took me a while to get into "The Prayer Box" but once I did, I couldn't but it down. I enjoyed following Tandi's story, a young mother who had hit rock-bottom, and although I didn't like her at the start, I found myself cheering for her as she started to grow into a strong, admirable woman.

However, it was Iona's story that gave the novel its depth. Through her letters, both Tandi and the reader learnt about this remarkable old lady. Here letters were beautiful and gave a glimpse into the pain Iona lived through as a young woman, but they also provided Tandi a look into a world where people shared and gave without hidden agendas or wanting something in return. These letters helped turn her life around.

As with all Lisa Wingate's novels the writing in "The Prayer Box" was beautiful, emotional and thought-provoking. A wonderful read. ( )