Book Review: "Finding My Thunder" by Diane Munier

"This was my heart. Hate could squeeze me, choke me, pierce me…but it could not choke the love from me…it would not. Love had to win."

[Munier, Diane (2015-03-28). Finding My Thunder (Kindle Locations 3053-3054). Kindle Edition.]

This is the battle cry of Hilly Grunier, narrator and heroine of  Diane Munier's sophomore novel, Finding My Thunder. As we meet Hilly, dangerous secrets swirl around her, accusations lurking in every hello and how-de-do. But Hilly doesn't fear small-town scandal or the speculation about her relationship with the Negro woman living behind her house. She doesn't fear her father's temper or her mother's babbling. Opinions of the faceless town or rudeness at school...none of these trifles make the short list.

Hilly Grunier fears one thing and one thing alone: never having a chance with Danny Boyd, the eternal, undisputed champion of her heart.

It doesn’t matter that Danny hasn’t spoken to her in years, that the childhood incident in the woods ruined their relationship forever. It doesn’t matter that Danny has a popular, pretty girlfriend who represents everything Hilly is not and does not wish to be.

All that matters is Hilly loves Danny, and love has to win.

But how can love win out over bombs in Vietnam, over an honorable young man’s duty to himself and country? How can love win out over bigotry and bias, when a Negro-tainted lineage is akin to social death? And how can love win out when life is unstable and everything you know could be shattered with a whisper?

Hilly does not need to know the “how”; she cares only about the “what.” What she knows is love has to win. And in the careful, poetic hands of Diane Munier, love has a fighting chance.

The powerful beauty of Finding My Thunder reveals itself in myriad ways. It survives in Hilly’s heart as love carries her down to the river, through woods and war, and back again. It colors the bond between Hilly and Naomi and is the only color between them that truly matters. It covers a multitude of hidden sins and emerges redemptive even after death.

And it infuses every line and space of this moving narrative with depth, music, and hope so audacious it outshines every dark and ugly thing seeking to snuff it out. Because as Munier so poignantly shows us, love is the greatest thing, and it always has to win.

Finding My Thunder is available at Amazon.com.