Lilly Crawford and Adam Wakefield were both victims of senseless violence. Adam, a prominent San Francisco neurosurgeon, was accosted when he attempted to resist carjackers. The attackers took more than his car. The injuries they inflicted temporarily robbed him of his eyesight and his self-esteem. Unlike Adam, Lily knew her attacker. Her husband was a pillar of the Little Elm, Texas community where they lived. Myron Crawford’s domestic violence temporarily robbed Lily of her self-esteem and her life’s vision. But when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Determined to get control of her future after the death of her beloved mother-in-law, Lily uses all but $40 of her life’s savings to file for divorce. Knowing her husband will try to block her attempts and discredit her, she flees her six-year-old marriage in a twelve-year-old car. As she heads for New Orleans, the car breaks down in Shreveport, not far from the Wakefield estate.

The once proud and arrogant Dr. Adam Wakefield is both humbled and angered by his inability to see. He has turned down all offers of assistance from his family and has refused to enroll in classes to help him adapt to his blindness. Adam has come to his Shreveport retreat, to hide away and lick his wounds. He is determined that his sight eventually will return. Despite his demands, his family refuses to leave him in Shreveport alone. Lily happens upon the estate seeking help with her disabled car just as the family has decided to hire a caretaker for Adam - against his wishes. He relents only when his godfather threatens to have him committed to protect him from himself.

One thing leads to another and Lily is offered what can only be described as a heavily disguised blessing. Adam’s abrasive manner reminds Lily of the husband she has just fled. But she desperately needs the job to gain her freedom. They are both wounded souls. But Lily’s healing has begun more quickly than Adam’s. What she lacks in knowledge of dealing with the needs of her blind charge, she makes up for in the ability to empathize with his pain. Vowing never to be verbally or physically abused again, Lily immediately sets up ground rules on what she will not tolerate from the churlish Dr. Wakefield.

Lily quits and/or is fired several times before an uneasy peace settles between the two. As they begin work together as a team, both gain needed self-confidence and discover “asking for help doesn’t mean you’re helpless.” Lily learns to expand her vision of the world around her and Adam learns to look closely within.

The Turning Point is populated with a number of great secondary characters who provide support and clarification. However, I’m not quite sure what to make of the smattering of young, spoiled female characters like Adam’s sister and Lily’s stepdaughter that Ray has placed within the story. I also would like to know more about Lily’s stepson, Rafe, who makes two brief appearances.

The author could not abandon her romance roots altogether. As a result, there is a poignant second-chance romance between minor characters that adds dimension to the novel. The narrative deftly explores relationships among the characters. The PG-rating is in keeping with the author’s continuing de-emphasis on the sexual nature of the complex relationships between adults.

The Turning Point marks a new phase in Francis Ray’s career. I strongly recommend it.

--Gwendolyn Osborne