Dora Crane has never accepted that her younger daughter could be dead, keeping her home looking the same as when her daughter disappeared. But when her husband leaves her and her older daughter intervenes, she agrees to counseling and to pack up her missing daughter's belongings under one condition: Faith Byrne comes to Deep Valley and sheds light on the cold case.
As the long-abandoned investigation moves forward, old wounds and long-buried secrets are exposed. Will these two women, whose lives have never been the same, finally get the answers they need to reconcile the past and the future?
* * * * *
I found this was slightly slow starting, but once things got going the story rolled along steadily. The story is told from multiple perspectives, and from across time periods, but each perspective section is managed very well and I never found them confusing which is quite an achievement in itself.
The mystery element of what happened to Heather is very well developed, with some twists along the way. The subject of grief is woven throughout the book and is not just the grief of losing a child. Faith is grieving the loss of her family unit, even though I felt that she was a lot better off without her ex-husband! She also seems to be grieving the transition in life stage of her grandmother. These elements are something which makes the book stand out. People grieve so differently, and grief itself is not linear, and both of those elements shine in this story, and are points which are well worth making, even when in a story.
The author has lots of experience with children, both her own, and others she teaches or fosters. This personal knowledge enables her to write the children in the story totally believably.
I've rated this four stars because I personally found the start a bit hard going, but this is a book well worth reading and is definitely something a bit different in the ocean of Christian novels.
9780764240409, Bethany House
For transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.
