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Tattie Maggard is a stay at home wife and mother who reads, writes, and shops for Kindle bargains in her free time. She runs a popular blog, Christian Book Finds, and homeschools her young daughter. She also enjoys sewing and playing old tunes on the pennywhistle. Rural Missouri has always been her home but just recently she learned to fully appreciate its cultural differences. She plans to set her future stories in the beautiful hills of the Ozarks.
Reviewed by Cheryl E. Rodriguez for Readers' Favorite
Tattie Maggard writes an intriguing tale in The Sixpence. Addie is sixteen years old, a teenager longing for love and a hopeful future. On the way home from a study date, she has a car accident, barely making it out alive. As a result, Addie is without a car. If she wants another, her parents agree she will have to buy it herself. Feeling smothered and stifled by her parents, Addie hastily searches for employment. But she didn’t expect to be tutoring Terrel Gunter, a Senior, a mysterious loner, a troubled soul. Terrel promises her $500 if she will help him with a special history assignment. Much to Addie’s surprise, Terrel uses her to interview her Aunt Eunice. Terrel has questions regarding Addie’s relatives - “old timers who could stop blood” by quoting a special Bible verse. The last person to have this gift was Addie’s great-grandmother, Lotus. The lingering rumor running through the community was that Lotus was a witch. Eunice gives Addie and Terrel the family Bible. Daily they search the highlighted scriptures for the healing verse. But at night Addie begins to read between the lines, learning more than she set out to discover. Their quest almost costs them their lives. The gift of blood stopping is “as much a curse as it is a blessing.” Eunice warns Addie to “be ready, to battle for your soul.”
To satisfy her curiosity, Tattie Maggard writes a fictional story based on stories she heard about her great-grandmother. As you read, you sense her imaginative personal touch, depicting genuine emotions within her characters. The Sixpence can easily be compared with Frank Perriti’s The Oath. Both reveal a special gifting among a select few and portray the characters' battle to pledge allegiance to the voice of God or the taunts of Satan. The settings are similar in that they mutually take place in small, backwoods rural areas with an atmosphere of longstanding folklore. The Sixpence is written more for the young adult reader, and has a lighter story line.
This work of fiction appeals to a broad range of readers. Young adults can relate to Addie and Terrel’s coming of age search for purpose – Why am I here? And the lifelong conflict of selfishness - Can I take short cuts in life, to accomplish MY goals and aspirations? The more mature reader understands Aunt Eunice’s longing to pass on wisdom to the next generation. The novel also exposes the grief and trauma of death, unforeseen accidents and debilitating sickness. The prevalent and lasting message of The Sixpence is that God uses sinners to advance His kingdom. In the words of Addie: “God wanted me to have the gift even though I was messed up.”
