How the Light Gets In

Title: How the Light Gets In

Author: Jolina Petersheim

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Publishing Date: Mar 5, 2019

Length: 400 Pages

About the Book:

From the highly acclaimed author of The Outcast and The Alliance, which New York Times bestselling author Lisa Wingate called “a book that begs to be savored,” comes an engrossing novel about marriage and motherhood, loss and moving on.

When Ruth Neufeld’s husband and father-in-law are killed overseas, she and her mother-in-law, Mabel, travel with Ruth’s young daughters to bury her husband near his childhood home. She hopes his Wisconsin Mennonite community will be a quiet place to grieve and piece together next steps.

Ruth and her family are welcomed by Elam, her husband’s cousin, who invites them to stay at his cranberry farm through the harvest. Sifting through fields of berries and memories of a marriage that was broken long before her husband died, Ruth finds solace in the beauty of the land and healing through hard work and budding friendship. She also encounters the possibility of new love with Elam, whose gentle encouragement awakens hopes and dreams she thought she’d lost forever.

But an unexpected twist threatens to unseat the happy ending Ruth is about to write for herself. On the precipice of a fresh start and a new marriage, Ruth must make an impossible decision: which path to choose if her husband isn’t dead after all.

My Review:

Woah I totally get what everyone meant when they recommended this one as a must-read now! I don’t believe I’ve ever read a book that played tug-of-war with my heart quite like this one. As a reader you’re taken on a journey you’d never want to go on yourself and are faced with emotional conflict you can’t even fathom. I’m currently left in the book fog. I’m still working on processing it all.

Unfortunately there is very little that I can say about this book without feeling like I’m giving away any spoilers. What I will say is that the author has masterfully penned the novel in such a way that your own heart appears to be at war through Ruth’s experiences. I also believe that because of the sequence of events, the opinions of each individual reader can alter their personal connection and emotions making it a different read for everyone.

If you haven’t read this one yet go do that. It will toy with your mind and emotions, but the journey is worth it in the end. This was my first read by this author but you can believe I’m sure it won’t be my last!

*I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.

Rating: