Rene D. Schultz

Four young kids are raised in an orphanage run by nuns, one in particular was unkind and uncaring, brutal actually. Of course their young psyches are damaged...
Too old to be adopted out ( babies they are not ), they eventually escape the system. And that is where the essence of the story begins.

Two, shoot for the stars and in the process opt for perfection, isolation and success. One is able to create the life she always wanted for herself and her family...a hard won happiness.
And the 4th? The overload of sadness and despair sent her life spiraling into a downward cycle to hell.
Through the efforts of one of them, they eventually re-connect and rebuild the family-ties that had always existed.

" They were unwanted children creating a nurturing environment for one another that encompassed the only world they understood."… (más)

How many times have we finished reading a book by an author and wondered what had been this author’s inspiration in writing each of their main characters? Well, Rene D. Schultz is the first author I can recall who has given us this information even before we get to the first page of the actual story; and with it, I feel, gives us a somewhat better understanding of the characters themselves.

The first two characters we meet are Margaret [Maggie] Gray and her secretary Denise Lockwood.
Ms. Schultz had already informed us that Maggie is the author in her and that Denise is her humor; both of which, without going into any details, I can attest to having read her first book, “Searching For Mr.Right.com.”

In “Bishop Street” the author tells the story of Maggie’s quest to reunite herself with the only three friends she had growing up in the orphanage, the only home she knew. Those three were friends Elizabeth [the mother in the author’s life], Randolph [the successful one] and Lucy [the lost child]. And with the help of Damon she was able to connect with each one again.

It’s interesting how Elizabeth wound up isolated in small town in North Dakota on a small farm away from the madness of a large city; and the other three in the same large city on the west coast, with each one of these three having built a wall around their personal lives, and each with their own personal reasons.

Yet, throughout the story there are no long drawn out chapters about their lives of her characters in the orphanage on Bishop Street, just snippets dispersed throughout the story itself which adds to the poignancy of the scene.

While Maggie is basically satisfied with how the first two of her friends have turned out. However, she can’t help her desire to help Lucy, the last of her three friends, not only to regain her former dignity and self-respect; but also to regain custody of her daughter who had been taken by social services due to her abuse of alcohol and drugs. Does she succeed? I’m not going to say, it’s in the book.

Even though all four of the main characters lives took different paths after they each left the Bishop Street Orphanage, each one took the same single memento of a special day there; a memento they’ve kept close to them even twenty years later.

Schultz’s descriptive style of writing many times pulls you right into the scene being created, and it feels as if the action is taking place in front of you.

Bishop Street is a great poignant of an individual’s will to survive and succeed, regardless of what life had brought them. Which is why I’m not hesitating in giving it 5 STARS.

Robin Leigh Morgan is the author of "I Kissed a Ghost." A MG-YA Paranormal Romance novel.… (más)

I read this, Rene's first book, as a paperback way back in 2008 which I believe I might still have tucked away somewhere in my apartment.

Searching4MrRight.com is a pure personal account of the author's personal life following a divorce and years of living alone until a friend urged to try online dating. She finally did follow this person's advice, the results of which can be read in her book.

Who can't recall the horrors of the dates you had, many of which you'd sooner forget, before getting married for the first. For the dates you can recall, didn't you give each one of those dates a label of sort to "remember" them by. If you did and you can relate to what Rene had experienced when she decided to re-enter the dating and doing the same thing. Read this book, and see how many of her dates had been similar to ones you had experienced yourself.

Searching4MrRight.com is a fun read, which for some might be hard to put down.… (más)

This story is an experience you won't soon forget. It's a story about four children who grew up in an orphanage unwanted, unloved, and clinging to each other for hope. Four children had an entrenched hope they would be adopted and daily prayer they would even survive their mostly ugly and unhappy journey.

Hope is all they thought their camaraderie was, but years later they discovered that no matter what happened or why they were together in that rigid loveless orphanage, they cared deeply for each other.

I was drawn to this story because I have always had a tender heart for children without families. As a child I just couldn't understand it, and wondered why other families didn't make sure no child had to endure that. Of course growing up, maturity makes you see things differently, but it doesn't necessarily change how you feel about it, and I still have a hard time accepting our society's shortfalls.

'What doesn't break you will make you stronger' has certainly been proven time and again, and these children had no choice but to see that song through. Each one's test was different in execution, but ultimately culminated to the same tune.

Each child's maturity into adult brought its own set of obstacles, trials and tribulations, but one core emotion ran steady through each of them. That solid feeling of family and the need for one, and it never wavered in their souls. It's strong and taut thread kept them searching for solace and peace of mind, and yet striving to bury the very reason for their plight. Their search and then their quick need to justify situations kept them mollified a day at a time, because they couldn't fathom what or how to massage their empty hearts. One space, the one for family, just couldn't be filled. It was an emptiness that led them down many roads, each one just as barren as the next.

For some it looked like the perfect life on the outside, but was total terror and sadness on the inside. Creating what they craved brought some happiness, but still left a hole in their heart that sought to be filled. And then some seek to anesthetize the pain, some with mind altering substances, some with work, and some with isolation. These four children sought all of them, and realized one day that family wasn't just a mom and dad.

Taking this journey with these four children into adult was touching and uplifting. What they endured and then accomplished gives the reader a feeling of empowerment and hope just like they had. It's a good story that everyone will enjoy.… (más)