Fingernail Moon: The True Story of a Mother's Flight to Protect Her Daughter

by Janie Webster

Fingernail Moon, the true story of a mother and daughter’s courageous journey. An inspiring story of Janie Webster’s daring quest to save her daughter’s life.

When Webster discovered that her husband had sexually abused their daughter, her seemingly content life changed forever. She began divorce proceedings, but the court allowed unsupervised visits between father and daughter. Then her husband was diagnosed with AIDS. Terrified that he could further abuse and even infect their daughter, Janie Webster knew that she had to flee.

Mother and daughter embarked on a five-year journey around the world. Although often discouraged, they found within their physical journey a deep spiritual meaning. With God’s guidance, they established and reestablished new lives in the countries where they stayed, finding people they could trust who provided them with friendship and assistance. Despite the threat of deportation and imprisonment hanging over them, they sensed the hand of God engineering their safe passage.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

Reviews

[E]

This is an amazing story. Janie Webster used to be a professor at EKU and I had the privilege to hear her tell this story briefly at last years Take Back the Night. She is a great story teller and obviously a strong woman.

The only issue I had with this book is that it's more like Christian literature than memoir. A third to a half of the book is about her relationship with God or her faith. This is fine with me and I finished the book but towards the end she started getting a bit preachy.

[Paula Koehler]

Difficult read due to the nature of the book but also because of their movements back and forth every few weeks. Lots of bible passages which the author found encouraging...I need to read the bible more!

[Jackie]

Based on a true story! I loved this book. I got to meet the author and her daughter

[Kathy Howells]

I read this on friend’s recommendation. It is an incredible story, though I caught myself wondering often if it was credible.

[Kathy]

For some reason I couldn't put this down and stayed up half the night finishing it in one go. On the run from ex-husband who had abused their 5-yr-old daughter, this woman roamed the world for five years until the father died. I found it odd that the main reason she wanted to go into hiding was because she feared the daughter would get AIDS from being sexually abused. Was it not enough simply that the daughter was being molested??!! If the father hadn't died, would they have been able to continue in hiding until the daughter reached age 18? doubtful, maybe.

[Cindy]

True story of mother/daughter flight around the world to avoid the child's sexual abuse by her father. A very tough journey. Courage, loneliness, much faith. A very good story.

[Jennifer]

This is such an encouraging book and I read it at such a pivotal time in my life. I've read it over and over again and am still amazed.