NOT A SPARROW FALLS BY LINDA NICHOLS

NOT A SPARROW FALLS by LINDA NICHOLS  is the story of Mary Bridget Washburn, a young woman who is on the run from Jonah and his meth business.  She hasn't always been living this life of crime, she got caught up in it when her mother died and left her and her brothers and sisters without many options.  Her grandmother, a godly woman who never gives up on her granddaughter, isn't well enough to look after the children and welfare takes her younger siblings away not allowing Mary to carry on looking after them.  When this happens she is devastated, angry with God and everyone, and runs away with Jonah, a friend from school who has always fascinated her.  Jonah turns to drugs, becomes a dealer and a manufacturer of meth and is a complete addict.  Mary is not an addict but she helps him by buying what he needs for his factory and keeps house for him and Dwayne in the sordid apartment they live in. The drugs have affected Jonah's brain and Mary is afraid of him and also of Dwayne, who she feels may take advantage of her.  She is a beautiful girl.
She manages to run away to Alexandria where she starts a new life, taking the name and social security number of her late mother who was called Bridie, short for Bridget.  Bridie, as she now calls herself, is being drawn back to the faith of her youth, although she feels that God can't possibly have any use for someone as sinful as she is.  She goes into the Presbyterian church, where she loves the peaceful atmosphere, and sees a notice board with the words "Not a Sparrow Falls to the Ground Without Your Father Seeing" on it and sees a teenage girl rush in and pin a note to the board.  After the girl leaves she reads the note which says "Help me, God".  Bridie feels drawn to this young girl's plight and ends up being the nanny/housekeeper for her father, Alasdair MacPherson, the pastor of the church.  She meets Alasdair through one of his sisters, Lorna, who meets Bridie where she is working and invites her to Thanksgiving dinner.  The young girl, Samantha, has a twin brother and sister, Cameron and Bonnie who are not yet two, and the whole family needs a lot of love.  Bridie has her secrets and so does Alasdair MacPherson, who lost his wife Anna when the twins were very small. The house is dark and forbidding until Bridie comes and paints the dark walls, opens the heavy drapes and puts the old heavy heirloom furniture into the attic, making the place more child friendly.
We see how God can use anyone to minister to those in need,  Bridie, who feels she is totally unworthy and has enough problems of her own, and Lorna, who is the only one of Alasdair's sisters who is willing to lay down her life for the family.  Lorna has always gone along with her sisters' decisions until she realizes that the Lord has chosen her to make a difference in her brother's life.
There is a lot of intrigue and it is an exciting book, but more than that it gives us quite an insight into the workings of the human heart.  We see how God can move in even the most impossible situations when people   
decide to walk in truth.  He brings light into the darkest places and truly looks after all His "sparrows"!