White Picket Fences

When the storybook-perfect Janvier family temporarily "adopts" their teenaged niece, Tally, they assume they'll be helping her. But when Tally befriends her cousin, Chase, she soon realizes that he badly needs encouragement, too. When the troubled teens interview two holocaust survivors for a sociology project, will they trigger the healing process that everybody needs? 352 pages, softcover from Waterbrook.

“I loved looking into the heart of this family whose life looks perfect only from the outside. Meissner’s characters are so real, so haunted by the past, and so in denial for reasons of self-defense that you will be swept away till the final page. You’ll find it hard not to wonder, as one of the elderly characters did, if remembering is a choice that takes courage.” — Julie L. Cannon, author of Truleove & Homegrown Tomatoes, ’Mater Biscuit, Those Pearly Gates, and The Romance Readers’ Book Club

“To step into a Susan Meissner book is to be blessed by a craftsman’s tender touch. In Susan’s hands, we move carefully into compassion, entering the ordinary lives of people who could be our neighbors, ourselves, each doing what we can to staunch the pain of memory. This book opens a gate in the white picket fences of our lives, helping transform memory and secrets so we are no longer held hostage by the past. Beautifully written by a keen observer of the human condition, White Picket Fence will keep you reading into the night and make you sigh with satisfaction at the end.” — Jane Kirkpatrick, award-winning author of A Flickering Light

“This compelling story with its wonderful cast of characters offers hope to all of us who live less than perfect lives behind our white picket fences. Susan Meissner skillfully weaves together parallel storylines to show how healing can come when we risk sharing our secret pain with others.” — Lynn Austin, author of Until We Reach Home

“Susan Meissner just keeps getting better and better. This novel is a deftly woven portrayal of family and friendships, of secrets and sacrifices, one that tiptoes beyond the white picket fence to look at what happens when people stop talking to each other.” — Siri Mitchell, author of Love’s Pursuit

“Poetic prose and a ‘can’t-put-it down’ plot make White Picket Fences a great read. A thought-provoking look into a dysfunctional family that thinks it is functional and how an outsider can serve as a means of grace. Caution: be ready to lose a few hours of sleep!” — Elizabeth Musser, missionary and author of The Swan House, The Dwelling Place, Searching for Eternity and Words Unspoken

“White Picket Fences is a beautiful, yet haunting portrayal of what lies beneath a seemingly perfect suburban family. Susan Meissner’s powerful storytelling woos the reader into the lives of flawed, needy characters, making us ache with them, rejoice with them. Meissner deftly weaves old and new, producing a seamless, satisfying and enduring story.” — Mary DeMuth, author of Daisy Chain and A Slow Burn

“Writing as incandescent as pure flame. Susan Meissner delivers again with a family story that wraps you up and stays with you long after the last page.” — James Scott Bell, bestselling author of Deceived and Try Fear

Average Rating:

8 of 17 Reviews Showing:(View All Reviews)

Reviewed by Patty (Yakima, WA), November 28, 2009

I really enjoyed this book. There were all kinds of aspects to it that made it interesting including suspense, anger, mystery, and even some history. My favorite character was Tally. She has lived an interesting life with her father Bart, but she still seems pretty grounded and level-headed. I kind of relate to her in some ways, which I guess is why she’s my favorite character. I would definitely highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good book. I do have to say that I was disappointed in a few cuss words placed in there. Maybe it's just me, but when I look for Christian fiction I expect to not read a book with that in it. Other than that, I loved the book.

Reviewed by Erika Chapman (Florence, SC), November 15, 2009

Loved The Shape of Mercy and couldn't wait to pick up another Susan Meissner book. I can't believe it has taken me so long to read her stuff. I am not quite done with White Picket Fences but I am LOVING it! Good stuff! YEA for another great book by Meissner!

Reviewed by Sara @ Embracing Destiny (USA), November 15, 2009

The theme of the novel is secrets and the destructive effects of keeping them. The characters are complex rather than one-dimensional. The storyline is detailed and interweaves many characters in unexpected ways. This book is not an easy read if you're looking for escapist fiction or "fluff." It's not a typical romantic novel with a happy ending. I found it hard to get into at first, but I was glad I stuck with it. Even though the ending isn't entirely satisfactory as far as resolution for all the characters, I feel the book was worth reading. If you enjoy fiction that makes you think and question what goes on beyond the surface of those seemingly perfect "white picket fences," you should add this to your reading list.

Reviewed by Sonia (Reno), November 14, 2009

This book is a must read. Following Tally, finding out about Chase's past, and reading the interview from the holocaust survivors, this is a MUST read. Could not put the book down, it was too good.

Reviewed by Bern (United States), November 14, 2009

Susan Meissner does an excellent job of reminding us that what is on the outside, isn't necessarily what is to be found on the inside. In her book, White Picket Fences, we're introduced to the Amanda Janvier and her family. On the outside, she and her husband, Neil are the perfect, church going family with 2 children - a teenage son, Chase and a preteen daughter, Delcey. Amanda's brother's choices force her to take in her sixteen year old niece, Tally, who is more or less a stranger to their family. As Tally slowly acclimates to the family, she and Chase bond as they work on a sociology project interviewing Holocaust survivors. Through the telling of the elder gentlemen's story, Meissner skillfully weaves a story that ties both the past and the present together in ways you would not imagine. And although, it would seem that it is Tally who is the most broken of the characters, as the story unfolds - it is really the Javier family that is broken - and the brokenness lies deep inside each of the characters. I appreciated Meissner's ability to demonstrate the ways so many of us cope with situations that we are uncomfortable with and how years of doing so can cause real damage to our most precious relationships. As I was reading, I was reminded of the verse in Psalm 44:21 that says, "Would God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart." It's the secrets that the characters keep in this story that cause damage that could otherwise be avoided. In the story, both Neil and Amanda have fooled themselves into believing that if they don't say it out loud and don't talk about a problem - then nothing is really wrong. Yet, as this verse states, God knows the secrets of the heart. This was genuinely thought-provoking book and it caused me to think about the many ways we strive to make everything look great on the outside - forgetting that what's most important is what it found on the inside.

Reviewed by Christy Lockstein (Oconto Falls, WIsconsin), November 13, 2009

White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner is a powerful novel about how the past shapes the future. Amanda Janvier gets more than she expected when she allows her niece, Tally, to stay with her family after her brother/Tally's father disappears. Amanda has worked hard to keep up the illusion of the perfect family, but Tally's arrival exposes the cracks in the foundations, and a school project between Tally and Amanda's son Chase brings up long hidden secrets and wounds which will leave them all permanently changed. Meissner's books are lyrical and haunting telling truths about the present by creating parallels in the past. With fully-fleshed characters and realistic dialogue, her stories captivate both the reader's heart and mind.

Reviewed by Janna Ryan (North Platte, NE), November 13, 2009

I really liked Susan's book, "The Shape of Mercy" but it raises the bar awfully high for any future books she has come out. She does not disappoint. In White Picket Fences we meet Neil and Amanda and their kids Chase and D who live the perfect life in a house with a white picket fence. They take in Amanda's niece, Tally, when her dad disappears. Tally turns the family life upside down (not intentionally) by befriending Chase and all kinds of issues arise to the surface. Is Neil and Amanda's perfect marriage really perfect? What really happened when Chase was in a fire at age 4? Why is Tally's dad in Europe when his daughter needs him? Chase and Tally have a school project that leads them to interview two old men at a nursing home that survived Treblinka during the Holocaust. This opens doors to the past that no one new existed. Susan Meissner has a gift for bringing the past to the present in an inspiring way. She does it again in this book and I loved it! Secrets are exposed, mysteries unravel and darkness comes to light in "White Picket Fences".

Reviewed by Lisa B. (Maine), November 13, 2009

This was my first book I've read by this author. I really enjoyed it. The overall theme is honesty. What happens when you think you are protecting someone and are forced to either lie or just not talk about it? The proverbial white elephant in the room? Overall it was a good book. I felt the ending left a few things hanging but I liked it. Very enjoyable and got me thinking.

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