Edited By: Arlene Uslander & Brenda Warneka 

Publisher:  iUniverse, Inc.

ISBN:  0-595-30283-1

The following review was contributed by:    Jennifer Brown & Click Here To View Jennifer Brown's Reviews

To read Jennifer's interview with the editors CLICK HERE

Fate (fât) n. 1. the power or agency supposed to determine the outcome of events before they occur; destiny 2. a) something inevitable, supposedly determined by the power b) what happens or has happened to a person or entity; lot; fortune

That is Webster’s New World College Dictionary Fourth Edition’s rather clinical definition of fate.  It is something inevitable, unavoidable, certain.  But to the real people behind the stories in Arlene Uslander’s and Brenda Warneka’s book, THE SIMPLE TOUCH OF FATE, fate has a different definition.

Says Thomas Wilson, “…when people are touched by the hand of fate, they know it” (p. 1).  And, indeed, the contributors to Uslander’s and Warneka’s book knew that fate had played a hand in their lives…a play that would change direction of their lives forever.

For some, fate meant a feeling or obstacle that held them out of disaster’s way.  For those, fate kept them from taking a route that would have meant their demise.  For others, fate found them uncertain at a crucial decision-making time in their lives and directed them to a clear path.  For still others, fate meant comfort at a time of loss, or a chance meeting that resulted in a reunion never thought possible.  Fate, as the stories show, can take so many forms.

Take, for example, an ill mother who speaks just one word before dying – and a daughter who hears it at a time she desperately needs to.  Or a drowning child suddenly given one last thrust of energy that saves her life.  Or a “spirit board” pounding out a life-saving message to a little girl.  These are just some of the stories found in THE SIMPLE TOUCH OF FATE.

The stories in Uslander’s and Warneka’s book are quite varied, contributed by people from all walks of life.  A great deal of them revolve around avoiding tragedy, the kind of stories that make one wonder if there is something more “out there”.  But a few of the stories are the strange, no explanation, goosebump-creating tales that defy even the staunchest doubter.

It is impossible to put down this book without feeling a glimmer of inspiration and a reason to explore your own faith in whom exactly is the director of our lives.  Painstakingly chosen and carefully edited, the stories in THE SIMPLE TOUCH OF FATE are just a scratch on the surface of what wonderment may exist in this world.  It is my prediction that Uslander and Warneka are onto something glorious with this endeavor – something that will turn into volumes upon volumes of people reaching out with their incredible tales – perhaps in doing so, extending their own hands of fate.