Tender Grace by Jackina Stark

Audrey Eaton awakes at three in the morning and gets up to retrieve her husband, Tom, from the recliner where he has fallen asleep watching a ball game. But when she enters the living room and looks at his gentle face in the soft lamp light, she knows their time together is over.

Grief attacks her until all she can think about is how much she wants her old life back. Determined to find healing, she embarks on a journey to the one place Tom and she always intended to visit but never did. Along the way, she discovers, through shared experiences with friends old and new, the meaning of the "tender graces" God provides each and every day.

My Review:
Written in first person in the style of a diary, this is a tender story of a widow who is trying to reason out her life without her mate. In addition to losing her spouse, she realizes that has she has lost herself. Although the topic is sad, the book is not. Rather, it's a love story of a butterfly emerging from the cocoon of grief.

One day, the protagonist ponders the question, Do you want to get well? Audrey Eaton, an intelligent woman, who freely admits her fears and flaws, answers in the affirmative and sets out on a journey of discovery. As she experiences new places, she reflects back on pieces of her life with family and friends in an interesting format. She carries her husband's Bible and begins to read the book of John, making applications to her present circumstances.

I read this book in one day and found it surprisingly unpredictable. It's definitely a winner! I think that every person would benefit from reading this one.

If you'd like to read the first chapter, click here.

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