A Tough Story, Hemmed in Hope -- Facing the Dawn

Sometimes I read a book and get a lot of simple enjoyment out of it -- I learn something new, I enjoy visiting a new location, I get to "meet" some interesting people with interesting stories, I just enjoy the escape from whatever life happens to be at the moment. Then there are the times when I read a book and WHAM!, I get hit full force with the impact of the story. Facing the Dawn by Cynthia Ruchti is one of those books!  

This story has its tough moments. In fact, there was a point fairly early on where I wondered if I should give up and admit that I just couldn't do this one. But I had previously read several books by Cynthia Ruchti and knew that this story would somehow be "hemmed in hope." And oh my goodness, was it ever! Every hurt, every loss, every point of despair led to beautiful lessons of God's provision, His grace, and the way He uses just the right people at just the right time to bring a beautiful new dawn after the darkness and healing to desperately hurting hearts.

I highly recommend this book to readers of great inspirational contemporary fiction. But be prepared as you open to the first page: Don't think you can read a few pages or chapters of this book and then put it down and go to sleep! That might work for the first couple of chapters or so, but then . . . there is no stopping point until the words run out at the end of the story! (We won't even talk about the ridiculous time I finally went to sleep in the wee hours of the morning after the final pages.)

Thanks to the author and her publisher for allowing me to be a part of her launch team and providing a copy of the book. I am happy to share my own thoughts in this review.

About the Book

While her humanitarian husband Liam has been digging wells in Africa, Mara Jacobs has been struggling. She knows she's supposed to feel a warm glow that her husband is eight time zones away, caring for widows and orphans. But she is exhausted, working a demanding yet unrewarding job, trying to manage their three detention-prone and needy kids, failing at her to-repair list, and fading like a garment left too long in the sun.

Then Liam's three-year absence turns into something more, changing everything and plunging her into a sunless grief. As Mara struggles to find her footing, she discovers that even when hope is tenuous, faith is fragile, and the future is unknown, we can be sure we are not forgotten . . . or unloved.

About the Author

Cynthia Ruchti is the award-winning author of more than 30 books, including the novels Miles from Where We Started, A Fragile Hope, Song of Silence, When the Morning Glory Blooms, and They Almost Always Come Home. Her books have been honored with more than 40 awards, including Romantic Times' Inspirational Novel of the Year, two Selah Awards, and three Christian Retailing's BEST Awards, and she has been a finalist for many others, including the Carol and the Christy. Former president of and current professional relations liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Cynthia lives in Wisconsin and can be found online at www.cynthiaruchti.com.