Where Hope Begins by Catherine West ~ Book Tour and Review

Publisher's Description:
Sometimes we’re allowed to glimpse the beauty within the brokenness . . . Savannah Barrington has always found solace at her parents’ lake house in the Berkshires, and it’s the place that she runs to when her husband of over twenty years leaves her. Though her world is shaken, and the future uncertain, she finds hope through an old woman’s wisdom, a little girl’s laughter, and a man who’s willing to risk his own heart to prove to Savannah that she is worthy of love. But soon Savannah is given a challenge she can’t run away from: Forgiving the unforgivable. Amidst the ancient gardens and musty bookstores of the small town she’s sought refuge in, she must reconcile with the grief that haunts her, the God pursuing her, and the wounds of the past that might be healed after all. Where Hope Begins is the story of grace in the midst of brokenness, pointing us to the miracles that await when we look beyond our own expectations.


My Thoughts:
Oh boy where do I begin.  I finished this book yesterday and my mind and heart are still mulling it over and dealing with all the emotions it evokes.  This story is so relevant to this day and age where so many families are devastated by the chaos that marital and family betrayal brings.  It dealt with some heavy duty topics:  adultery, marriage break up, loss of a child, suicide, guilt, worthiness, forgiveness.  The family in this story was facing some major issues.  Tragedy, that instead of drawing them closer, was driving them apart as they tried to cope.  There were some light moments, some heart breaking moments, some very, very difficult moments and yet the story was infused with hope.  I felt the reactions, emotions and struggles of the each of the characters was written very real.  I loved that the author didn't try to pretty up and skirt around the pain and not only showed the heartbreak and raw feelings of the parents but also of what the teenager and young adult child were going through.  I was the young adult  many years ago and this story resurfaced many, many feelings that I went through so I know they were written very honest and legitimate.  The characters and their reactions were very real and not perfect as they struggled to make sense of what happened and how to move forward and to face the grief that they had never really dealt with. I loved the symbolism of the broken down, seemingly dead green house and how that became a place of hope and looking beyond the obvious for Savannah.  In real life, I think the characters would have had to take much more time to work things through but for the sake of the story the timeline did move quickly.  (Otherwise you would end up with a very long tome).  There is some physical feelings  between husband and wife that are added for those who are sensitive to that in their reading material but I felt they were done tastefully and it is definitely part of what a couple experiencing this would go through.There is great questions in the back and this whole book would make for a great book club read, both Christian and non-believer, as there is so much that could be discussed.

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for sending this book free of charge for my honest review.  All opinions and thoughts are my own and I am not required to give a positive review.

I gave this book a 9/10 rating but for BookLook Blogger purposes they rate out of 5 and don't have 1/2 point ratings so I bumped it to the 5 on their site because of it's honest portrayal.