If I had to describe my favorite kind of Christian fiction, I'd say it's the kind that portrays Christians in all shapes and sizes, because that is how our Creator designed us--A mosaic of broken fragments of color, pieced together to form a masterpiece of beauty. That is not only how one could describe the characters of Gina Holmes' newest release, Driftwood Tides, it is to some degree the theme of the story.

Driftwood Tides is about a young woman who discovers, shortly before she is to get married, that she is adopted. She travels to Nags Head, North Carolina in an effort to find her birth mother, only to discover she is dead, and the woman's intensely alcoholic husband knew nothing of her birth. Together, they embark on a journey to learn more about the woman who appeared a saint to those who knew her, but harbored secrets that may reveal her raw humanity.

As always, Gina Holmes paints vivid characters who are fraught with frailties, yet bear the hope of being something more. They are real, deeply felt, and unmistakably unique. In this novel, there is a confused bride-to-be, an insecure groom, a haughty socialite, a drunken driftwood artist and an intensely loyal bathing-suit-top-wearing artist's assistant. They are authentic, lovable and even aggravating at times--just like family. And yet they have the capability, with the help of a loving Father-God, to become more than the sum of their parts. They can be what God created them to be.

I love the metaphor of the driftwood artist. It is what God is to us. He can take old scraps of wood, beaten and worn, and turn them into something useful and beautiful. This story is about imperfection and brokenness, and how even the ugliest of elements can be repurposed for His Glory.