Book Review: “Born at Dawn” by Nigeria Lockley

You may remember Nigeria from her stellar interview a few weeks ago. It’s my pleasure to review her debut novel! Check out the deets.

Title: Born at Dawn

Author: Nigeria Lockley

Genre: Christian Fiction

Book Description: 

Thirty-four year old Cynthia Barclay knows that marriage is supposed to be for better or for worse. Unfortunately, for the last ten years of her marriage Cynthia has experienced the worst that marriage has to offer at the hands of her abusive husband Marvin Barclay. With the hope of saving herself and her family she turns to the Lord. Expecting to see God manifest himself greatly in her life sooner than later Cynthia is not content just waiting. She wants out.

Abandoning her hope, her husband, and her two young sons Cynthia boards a bus from New York City to Richmond, Virginia. She begins a new life armed with six thousand dollars on a prepaid credit card, a sketchy plan for success, and a promise to return for her sons. That is until she meets Cheo, a photojournalist with enough connections to take her where she wants to be and forget where she came from.

After six years in Richmond Cynthia’s dark past resurfaces. At the risk of losing it all–her past and her present Cynthia returns home to right her wrongs. Has Cynthia chosen the right time to return home or is it too late for God to restore everything she has broken?

My Review:

I loved this book! It forced me to re-evaluate so many of my moral codes.

Cynthia chose to do the unthinkable: she abandoned her children and left them with an abusive parent. She escaped, but left her two sons behind in a dangerous situation. I wanted to judge her. I wanted to dislike her. But Lockley manages to portray Cynthia’s humanity and brokeness in a way that garnered my sympathy. For Cynthia, leaving her children was the equivalent of putting the oxygen mask on herself first when the plane is going down. She had to save herself in order to have any chance of being there for her children.

Born at Dawn also offers narrative from the perspective of Cynthia’s abusive husband Marvin. The monster becomes human as we are allowed to see the history and patterns of neglect that stem from Marvin’s shady childhood. He is flawed, arrogant, manipulative and childish, yet I found myself rooting for his recovery.

Born at Dawn is unpredictable and delectable. I devoured this book and savored the flavor of love long after I finished it. I have mixed feelings about the ending, and I hope there’s a sequel or spin-off coming soon. If you want to read a book that will challenge your moral compass and have you feeling some type of way, then you HAVE to read Born at Dawn!

It’s Born at Dawn’s release day!!!! You can get your’s via Amazon now by clicking here!

First week sales are crucial for authors, so if you’re planning to purchase ‘Born at Dawn’ I encourage you to do so sooner, rather than later. 🙂