Author: Arlene Uslander & Brenda Werneka

ISBN: 0-595-30283-1

Genre: Religion and Spirituality

The following review was contributed by: Andrea Wren & CLICK TO VIEW Andrea Wren's Reviews 

 What is fate? Are the paths of our lives already determined, without our ability to change them, or do they consist of choice, chance and luck, with coincidences thrown in here and there to spice things up? The individuals who contributed their stories to Arlene Uslander and Brenda Warneka’s book, The Simple Touch of Fate, certainly believe in destiny – and how it has worked in their favour.

 This is a collection of individual tales of unusual circumstances that seem to have no other explanation than that of fate for those concerned. What about Jacob, who through a series of events and a rearranged business meeting, missed the flight from Boston’s Logon Airport at 8.45, that would have carried him to his death on September 11^th? Or the story of Cynthia, who worked late one night – when she should have gone home - in her job as a nurse one to attend an emergency, and found the patient to be her real mother who had had her unwillingly adopted at birth?

 The Simple Touch of Fate is a pleasing compilation of 55 stories and accounts that do not need a scientific justification of whether they are actually the result of some kind of divine intervention. It is how the individual makes sense of them that is important. How many people have missed flights that would not have led to their death? And how many people have been in circumstances which have led to their life lost? Does fate work both ways?

 There may well be no explanation at all; it’s just good luck and bad luck, but the enjoyment of this book comes from how the contributors interpret their own situations, and from amazement at how chance may throw out such odds, if fate is not a probable rationalization for you.  Whether you believe in destiny or not, this collection makes a delightful book to read, pick up and dip into, as you desire.