Deep from the Heart...I like Ava, the narrator.

Although I’ve never known anyone quite like Ava Molino, she has become real to me. I like

her. She isn’t perfect, but if she were, we’d find her disgusting.

She needs encouragement, and I’m hooked on her situation…cheering for her. I’ve been obsessed with recording her story exactly as she told it.

Where did this character come from? Mississippi, but where in the ethereal region that authors invade to recruit characters did Ava exist? She’s nothing like me. Maybe she’s like some who will read about her.

At times she’s a needy millennial. Her district superintendent, her immediate supervisor, dreads seeing her walk through his office door. On the occasions when she doesn’t feel needy, she’s capable of managing challenging situations.

When we first meet her, she says she wants romance in her life. She has several blocks to romance. She’s moving to a town where there won’t be many eligible men. If she meets any men in the town of Flat Rock, I don’t expect her to start relationships with them. A guy named Ray claims her attention, and she seems to have no interest in anyone else. She sets her sights on him. Although she doesn’t pursue him when she arrives in town, she welcomes his attention.

I wondered whether she had a relationship in Mississippi before she left. Evidently not…. Now she’s looking for a serious commitment. But with such a cute guy?

At first, she’s a bit of a mess. Imagine a minister with chipped red fingernail polish. Her clothes don’t fit right, and she has spilled something on her best dress.

As I said, I like her. She’s qualified intellectually and she’s an accomplished musician. She has a good starting point. No matter how small or large her church is, she must feel overwhelmed as she leaves her pleasant existence and moves to an unfamiliar, potentially hostile place. Let’s hope things go well for her, but how can they?