In Robert Whitlow's Higher Hope, he continues the "Tides of Truth" series, in which law student Tami Taylor breaks into the legal profession with an internship at a Savannah, Georgia law firm. Picking up where Deeper Water leaves off, Tami spends the second half of the summer being courted by two men, one a lawyer with the firm and the other a fellow summer intern, while her faith is stretched by the cases she works on and by the challenges of being away from home in a professional environment.
The main case on which she assists in Higher Hope deals with a developer who wants to buy a piece of property from a small church so that he can develop the area around it into a shopping center. The lady preacher, whose home and the church, which is titled in her name, sit on the property, won't budge, and has made public accusations about the developers immoral personal life and business practices. Tami is to help him bring charges of libel and slander against the preacher.
Even though the preacher is eccentric and has poor social skills, she has a big heart and Tami recognizes the prophetic gift in her. Tami is torn between following the strict instructions from the lead lawyer on the case and her desire to see truth prevail and not to attack the church. I like the way Whitlow draws these lines and acknowledges the sometimes messy dilemmas people of faith face in law and business.
On the personal side, Tami still has these two men competing (in a friendly way) for her affections. She takes the lawyer home to meet her family for a weekend. Even though he is a Christian and, like her, was homeschooled, Tami's parents find plenty to be suspicious of. He has a ponytail, rides a motorcycle, and is simply not as conservative as they are. It's funny to see how he tries to fit into their culture, and heartwarming to see the respect Tami shows her parents with regard to her personal life. It's surprising to see a woman in her mid-twenties be as deferential to her parents as she is, but, as a parent, their relationship makes me wish I had been more directive. Even with this deference, she is a smart, determined, independent thinker.
Higher Hope is a nice sequel to Deeper Water and leaves the door open for Greater Love. Higher Hope ends with the end of the summer internship and an offer to return to work for the firm upon graduation, as well as an offer to work for a start-up firm that a fellow intern and the local DA are opening. I like Tami and will look forward to reading about her next steps in Greater Love.
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