The Joy of Falling
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4.2 • 5 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
Eva and Angela must learn to live again. One step at a time.
It has been fifteen months since Eva and Angela lost their thrill-seeking husbands in a scuba diving accident. Both women are trying to navigate their way through the grief, but neither one is making much progress. Angela is barely making ends meet, angry at her husband for leaving her to raise three children on her own. Meanwhile, Eva is stuck, unable to move forward after losing the love of her life and her source of inspiration.
But then Eva gets a life-changing phone call. Before Brent and Wes died, they had signed up for a race of a lifetime—an ultra-marathon in beautiful New Zealand. Eva begs Angela to run the race with her in their husbands’ place, and Angela finally agrees, hoping to finally understand her husband's choices.
Training is exhausting, and the race is even more demanding. Their journey grows more complicated by the presence of two men—Marc is Brent’s best friend who is running the race with Eva and Angela, and Simon King is a writer who is covering their inspiring story. With every step, Eva and Angela must ask themselves questions that they haven’t had the courage to ask before. As the women literally put one foot in front of the other, they wonder: Is it possible to find their way forward in hope?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Harrel (The Secrets of Paper and Ink) delves into pain and grief in this fine inspirational. Sisters-in-law Eva and Angela Jamison both lost their adventurous husbands in a scuba diving accident. Now, the two women are left to mourn their loss and rebuild their lives. Childless Eva was left "richer than God" by entrepreneur Brent, while Angela is forced to give up homeschooling her three children and work two jobs to support her family after the loss of Wes. Eva feels like she has lost all the color in her life; Angela is living on rage and refuses to talk about her pain. When Eva discovers that Brent and Wes had planned on competing in an ultramarathon in New Zealand with their friend Marc, she convinces Marc and reluctant Angela that the three of them should take on the challenge. As the months of training go by, Eva and Angela are forced to confront their loss, their future, and their relationship with God. They also must sort out feelings they are developing for new men in their lives. Harrel's honest portrayal of two women struggling with grief, healing, and moving forward with their lives will appeal to any fan of inspirational fiction.
Customer Reviews
BEAUTY FROM ASHES!
Lindsay Harrel writes stories that captivate readers but they are also stories of hope and inspiration. Her latest release is a heart rendering story of two adventure loving brothers who die too young and each leave a wife that is struggling with their death. One wife, Eva, has her husband almost on an untouchable pedestal as the exciting adventure seeking hero who could do no wrong. The other wife, Angela, is left being a single parent to three children and has a lot of unresolved issues with her husband’s adventure seeking ways. The main one being she felt he abandoned their relationship in search of the next great adventure. One thing is certain, both women are drowning in their grief.
Eva receives a life-changing phone call telling them that before the brothers were killed, they had singed up for a race of a lifetime—an ultra-marathon in beautiful New Zealand. Out of the blue, Eva begs Angela to run the race with her in their husbands’ place. Angela finally agrees, hoping to finally understand her husband's choices. This commitment means moving Angela’s family & their Mother-in-Law to New Zealand months in advance so they can prepare for the ultra-marathon. If the grueling physical training preparation was not enough, they now have to deal with the overwhelming presence of two men—Marc is Brent’s best friend who is running the race with Eva and Angela, and Simon King is a writer who is covering their inspiring story. The race makes Eva and Angela face things about themselves they have been hiding from and or burying down deep in order to keep up with the demands of daily life. They each come back with deeper personal relationships with God. What I like most about this book is that Harrel does not end this story at the end of the marathon. She allows readers to see these characters as they continue to heal and go back their normal lives. One of my favorite quotes from this book is,
“Trusting God to catch you . . . that’s what life was really about.” I think that sums up what all the characters (as well as the readers) learn from this beautiful story. I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Thomas Nelson Publishers and NetGalley. The opinions expressed here are completely my own and without influence.