The Art of Losing Yourself by Katie Ganshert

Just like in my dream, I was drowning and nobody even noticed.

Every morning, Carmen Hart pastes on her made-for-TV smile and broadcasts the weather. She’s the Florida panhandle’s favorite meteorologist, married to everyone’s favorite high school football coach. They’re the perfect-looking couple, live in a nice house, and attend church on Sundays. From the outside, she’s a woman who has it all together. But on the inside, Carmen Hart struggles with doubt. She wonders if she made a mistake when she married her husband. She wonders if God is as powerful as she once believed. Sometimes she wonders if He exists at all. After years of secret losses and empty arms, she’s not so sure anymore.

Until Carmen’s sister—seventeen year old runaway, Gracie Fisher—steps in and changes everything. Gracie is caught squatting at a boarded-up motel that belongs to Carmen’s aunt, and their mother is off on another one of her benders, which means Carmen has no other option but to take Gracie in. Is it possible for God to use a broken teenager and an abandoned motel to bring a woman’s faith and marriage back to life? Can two half-sisters make each other whole?

My Review:
We get two stories in one with this novel. There's Gracie's tale. She's a troubled teen who seems determined to keep people at a distance. How will she ever feel included? Then there's her half-sister Carmen, the perfectionist. The only thing missing in Carmen's life is a baby, and goodness knows, she does everything she can to become a mother. However, nothing works. Will her marriage survive this stressful time?

With two such interesting characters leading the way, the novel moves at an interesting pace. I really liked the way the author ends the book. It certainly is different from the way most would expect. I also like the way the author realistically handled the church people.

Details make any narrative come alive. It was fun reading about the restoration of the Treasure Chest. I especially liked the description of the hospitality room with its wall of wisdom.

I recommend this thought-provoking read.

Thank you to Bonnie at Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and WaterBrook Press for my copy.

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