Hannah Ryan is the mother of two adorable little girls and the wife of a doting husband. Her life is perfect — until the night her husband and eldest daughter are ripped away from her by a drunken driver. Torn by grief and rage, Hannah finds her faith — like that of Jeremiah weeping over Jerusalem — tested to the limits. As she walks the long road of her own modern-day Lamentations, she must learn to forgive… and finally discover that God’s mercies truly are new every morning. Sometimes the road home is only found by letting go.
Although I read this series starting with book 3, it didn’t ruin the series at all like I feared. If anything, I was more eager to read it and find out about some of the characters I met in book three. While the stories are linked by “acquaintances” of characters in future books, there really isn’t a lot of content or character overlap so reading them out of order is not a problem.
This was a difficult book to read as the main character’s obsession was so ever whelming that it coloured almost the entire novel with a heaviness and futility or darkness. While hope wins out in the end, it is a long, gruelling process to get there – much like real life. Huh, go figure. Upon reflection, I consider it a sign of a true master when the reader experiences the hopelessness and depth of despair that the main character experiences. It was an emotional novel and centered around characters you can easily empathize with – including the “villain”. Karen Kingsbury writes with such a compassionate and genuine “voice”. Each character can be empathized with and experienced by the reader. This novel is simply another in a long line of awe-inspiring books by Karen Kingsbury. Go out and pick up this book today – you won’t regret it!