Hope Embraced

This touching story is probably different from any other the reader may have encountered. It details the lives of the Gordon Girls, State Wards, Joyce, Eleanor, Alyss and Deidre as they venture boldly into adulthood.Members were shocked when, at not yet seventeen, Alyss boldly left her older sisters and the sect they were in and went to live in the despised “outside Godless world”. She made plain her reasons: ‘I just had to get out; I couldn’t stand the domination any longer. Aunt Iris could be lovely sometimes, but was mostly harsh and violent; “must beat ‘The Devil’ out of her,” she’d said. Iris remained in The Fellowship only through the forbearance and patience of Elder Burgess, our parish leader. And being there wasn’t my choice, either-nothing was ever my choice, really-we were coerced into it.‘As from “frying pan to the fire” Alyss’s move was from one dominator to another and her life is almost ruined. Only after meeting Angus Macintosh and seeing the kind of man she could love and embrace from her own choice could Alyss summon the courage to defy the overbearing woman and flee her unsuitable household. Alyss more than survived; she triumphed. But how did her sisters fare? Did each of the girls embrace hope positively, as Alyss did?All will be disclosed through these pages.