I found Jewel, by Bret Lott, to be a stunning read. As a mother to a special needs son--my forever son--I admire the perspective, detail, and heart Lott brought to this novel. Beautifully written, Jewel is a clearly defined character I find relatable to as a reader, a writer, and as a mother. Loved this book so much. Highly recommend.

A very moving tale, nostalgic and sentimental, on occasion it felt overly so, but it was rarely a slog trying to get past Jewel’s detailed analysis of her thoughts and feelings.

It felt a lot longer then its 358 pages but not in a bad way, it was certainly gripping in places, and my favourite aspect was how you feel like you’re ageing with Jewel, experiencing her adventures and reminiscing her history with her. Enjoyed the contrast between outback Louisiana and urban California.

Emotional ride and would very much recommend.

This is my all-time favorite book. It's powerful.

One should not read past reviews until you finish a book. Alot of 2 and 3 stars; but I liked this book immensely, so I gave it a five! It was well written, had good character development, an eye for detail, and was emotion packed. A poor rural Mississippi family's sixth child born in 1943 is a Downs Syndrome child. Instead of putting her daughter, Brenda Kay, in an institution Jewel believes she can "fix" her daughter by moving to California where there is help for such children. Her husband, Leston, strongly opposes the move. This is about one mother's love, devotion, and dedication to her special needs daughter (who never progresses beyond the mental age of six) and the roller coaster involvement for each member of the family. Jewel's dedication to Brenda Kay is honest and genuine even sometimes to the detriment of the rest of the family. But there are also tender scenes of family love as well as Jewel's personal duel with God. Hard to believe it was written by a man!

I bought this book over a decade ago and I had no time to read it then. Recently I found this while I was decluttering and I was thinking of just donating this. But my mind says that I should at least give this a chance to be read.

I was not disappointed on this wonderful novel. This novel is rich about a lot of Jewel's stories from her experiences with her mom, dad, grandmother, school, colored people such as Cathedral, up to her husband Leston and children.

I can see a that there are a lot of not-so-good past reviews and thank goodness that I didn't succumb on believing them right away. I trust my judgment on why not I should give this a try and it didn't failed to amuse me. The author is really good on narrating in a woman's point of view and every phase on Jewel's life makes you anticipate what will happen next.

I would give this 2 1/2 if they allowed 1/2 stars. It took me forever to finish it and was skimming towards the end.

There were parts that grabbed me … and then parts that just dragged. There were parts I found beautiful and thought provoking and thoughts I could barely trudge through.

It was hard to see a very offensive racial word written so often - which I had seen pointed out in reviews prior to me reading it - but I did appreciate the way Jewel, the main character, evolved in the way she viewed her use of the word. She grew and learned how grossly inappropriate and demeaning and offensive it was. She realized how she had grown up in an area where it had been used so flippantly that she truly hadn’t known any better but when she did know better she tried to teach her husband to think & act differently and she herself thought & acted differently. It was interesting to compare the racial mindsets of people living in one part of the country with those living in a completely different part of the country. I can attest that there is a lot of truth to that and the two parts of the country I’ve lived in aren’t even so extreme as Mississippi and California.

Overall, this is a story I feel could have been told in a lot shorter book. Definitely not a favorite.

Oprah chose this for her book club in 1999. See some of the crazy details here. Lott was one of my references when I applied to the MFA degree at Seattle Pacific; I didn't get in.

Bret Lott signed my copy after he spoke to a creative writing class I taught in 2011 at Palmetto Christian Academy in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Here is a cool story about a family connection with Gene Fant (now the president of NGU).

Such a great book! The lifelong journey of a woman and her family, and the impact of raising a child with Down's Syndrome back in the time before they were allowed in public school. A powerful book about a fiercely protective momma.

I got about 80 pages in, but did not finish this book. I'm not sure why, but I just couldn't get interested. The writing is good, but the story just didn't grab me. Such a bummer, but that is part of the beauty and magic of books - everyone responds a little differently to the same words. I'd love to know what others loved about this book.

I have a love-hate relationship with books inducted into Oprah's book club. Some are great, while some are meh. Jewel straddles the fence of being almost great but something holds it back. Lott was a new author for me so I was eager to see what he had in store. The first thing that struck me was his writing style - a compelling narrative written from a woman's point of view. It does get wordy and long-winded which was tiring at times, which accounts for the 4 stars. There is an audience for this book; however, be aware that the plot does not move quickly, paragraphs are overly descriptive, and there is not enough dialogue to push things along. It's definitely not a "quick read".

The novel centers around a Southern woman named Jewel who began her life in the backwoods of rural Mississippi. It takes us on her life journey and, consequently, that of family. It shows us how Jewel dealt with a situation with her daughter that can often make or break a family, and the impact that this issue had on that same family.

“I say unto you that the baby you be carrying be yo’ hardship, be yo’ test in this world. This be my prophesying unto you, Miss Jewel…The Lord smiling down on you this way.” This is what Jewel Chandler Hilburn was told about her unborn child—her sixth and last. It was 1943 and she had already been blessed abundantly with a good marriage to a loving man, five beautiful children, and a comfortable life in the woods of Mississippi. With this child, Jewel just wanted a living, breathing baby with ten fingers and ten toes. Certainly, that couldn’t be too much to ask? But life can change in an instant and Jewel soon finds herself with a baby who is both a blessing and a burden and who will forever change the way she views life and love.

Bret Lott delivers a poignant and touching story about a mother’s relationship with her special needs daughter. Jewel is a woman who has lived a thousand lives and has seen hardship and tenderness, cruelty and kindness, but the heart of this story is the bond she shares with her daughter, Brenda Kay. Lott brings to the surface the gut-wrenching and life-altering moment when a mother looks upon her precious child—when heart and head finally reach mutual agreement—and says the words, “Something’s wrong”. We feel the heartbreak as Jewel mourns the future that she has imagined for her daughter that will never be and we see her burdened with the regret of not being there for her other children or her husband. Life is no longer measured in minutes or months, but in milestones and Jewel is there to celebrate each and every one of Brenda Kay’s. She even organizes a family picnic when Brenda Kay takes her first step at age five.

"Jewel" is a celebration of the love between a mother and child. Bret Lott reminds us of the tremendous gift that our children give us. As each day brings with it some amount of pain, joy, frustration, heartache, sadness, and love, we are also reminded that it is one day less that we have with them all to ourselves for the job of a parent is to love our children, protect them, guide them, and then let them go so that they can make lives of their own. It is a bittersweet role that we take on willingly and relinquish reluctantly. Our legacy is often measured through our children. They carry on our hopes, our dreams, our stories, and a bit of ourselves. As Jewel said, “My life would never end, I saw, not even in my own Brenda Kay, because of those eyes turned to me and asking what to do, the only true victory any mother could ever hope for: the looking of a child…to you for what wisdom you could give away before you left for whatever reckoning you had with the God who’d given you that wisdom in the first place.” Our children are indeed a blessing and a burden, but through their words, actions, and deeds, we too are able to see the Lord smiling down at us.

This is one of those books that will stay with me the rest of my life. I can hardly believe it was written by a MAN! The intrinsic feelings of a woman, wife, mother were very wisely written. The theme of once a mother means forever a mother is emphasized in the fact that Jewel has a Down's Syndrome daughter that never ages mentally past six years old. Contrast this with the fact that Jewel still has 5 other "normal" children to nurture and care for and you have an interesting story. Towards the end of the book Lott captures this beautifully by writing,

"My life would never end, I saw, . . .the only true victory any mother could ever hope for: the looking of a child, whether retarded or not, to you for what wisdom you could give away before you left for whatever recokoning you had with the God who'd given you that wisdom in the first place."

My favorite part was chapter 15 when the story of Jewel and her husband is told while the present day husband and wife are heading for a rare romantic tryst.

And lastly, it's always fun to have the city you live in named in a book! (page 194)!!!