Even though she's married, Ruth Neufeld feels like a single mom. Her husband, Chandler, is a well-respected doctor, traveling around the world providing medical services to people in need. But Ruth has started to feel like the world gets Chandler's attention and what's left over isn't enough to fulfill the needs of his own family. As Ruth questions her love for Chandler and the future of their marriage, she learns he and his father, also a doctor, have been killed in a bombing in the Middle East. With no money and no close family of her own to go to, Ruth first heads to Chandler's Mennonite mother's home in Wisconsin. As Ruth considers her options, she's drawn to Chandler's cousin, Elam, who appears to be the exact opposite of Chandler in many essential ways. Ruth makes some bold decisions, committing to a way of life for herself and her daughters and, just when she feels secure in her new path, an unexpected and unwelcome revelation forces her to make a choice she didn't want to make. Tavia Gilbert interprets the writing perfectly. Her voice balances strength and vulnerability, making the written word more emotionally effective. VERDICT This is a story about real relationships and expectations and the need to be seen as both vulnerable and independent within a relationship. As a Christian fiction selection, its message feels appropriate without turning heavy-handed and sanctimonious.--Laura Brosie, St. Charles City-Cty. Lib., MO

Petersheim (The Alliance) constructs a rich story about grief, the dying of love, and the rekindling of faith. After Ruth's husband, Chandler, is killed during a hospital bombing in Afghanistan, she and her two daughters, two-year-old Vivienne and six-year-old Sofie, take his ashes to the Wisconsin Mennonite community where he grew up. Elam, her husband's cousin, invites them to stay at his cranberry farm for the harvest, and Ruth agrees to work in the cranberry bog. She is melancholic, but her sadness is mainly for her daughters; she finds it hard to grieve for a husband she feels she had already lost. Ruth and Chandler had been married for five years, and they adopted Sofie shortly after their marriage. Chandler, a doctor, had been away for most of his children's lives and, slowly, Chandler and Ruth's love turned to distant communication and bitterness. During Ruth and her daughters' stay with the Mennonite community, Ruth's relationship with her grieving mother-in-law strengthens, and she nurtures a friendship with Elam. Then a phone call makes Ruth question whether Chandler is dead after all. With skillful plotting and vibrant characters, Petersheim reveals the pain of loss and the healing that comes from mercy and forgiveness. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.