Story Description:
Baker Publishing Group|May 1, 2012|Trade
Paperback|ISBN: 978-0-7642-0810-2
New Contemporary Novel from an Award-Winning Author
Ann Tatlock
Jane Morrow has
a dilemma. She’s engaged to Seth
Ballantine, a member of the National Guard’s 30th Heavy Brigade Combat
Team and he’s returned from Iraq severely wounded. Jane hasn’t seen him for nearly a year and
with trepidation she heads to the VA hospital in Asheville, North Caroline
where he is being treated. Seth isn’t
happy to see her. He’d asked her not to
come. He wants to end the
relationship. But Jane loves him, and
despite his injury, she’s determined to convince him that they can have a life
together. Her faith has never been
strong, yet she hopes God will answer her prayers and tell her what to do. Beautifully written, Travelers Rest takes readers on a journey through pain and tragedy
to a place of hope and redemption.
My Review:
This was simply the most beautifully written, heart-warming,
yet heart-breaking story I’ve read in a long while. Seth and Jane were engaged to be married
until Seth returned from the war in Iraq as a quadriplegic with an attitude
that his life is totally over. Having
been a carpenter Seth can no longer use his arms or hands and wishes he had
died. He told Jane not to come and see
him, to move on and forget about him but of course, Jane wasn’t about to allow
that to happen.
Jane went to see Seth and he wasn’t happy to see
her. As hard as he made that first visit
for her, the more determined she was to stay and help him through the pain of
what he has lost. Seth, on the other
hand, doesn’t want help and asks Jane to help him die but she won’t have any
part in that either. Jane is still in
love with Seth and wants to marry him but Seth won’t allow it and tells her he
can’t deal with the engagement while dealing with everything else and tells her
to remove her engagement ring.
In the meantime, Jane meets Truman, a retired 70ish
year-old doctor who lives at the VA hospital and helps out with the patients
and keeps an eye on things. He and Jane
strike up a friendship that will grow into something absolutely beautiful.
Jane doesn’t know what to do. Should she leave Seth and move on like he
wants her to, forgetting all about him?
Should she stay and insist they continue forward with their wedding and
become a nurse to him instead of a wife?
She needs someone to tell her what to do and wants to ask God but she’s
never gone to church and doesn’t know how to pray. However, through her talks with Truman, Jane
finds exactly the answers she was looking for and ends up with much more than
she bargained for making for a very happy ending.
At 342 pages I read this in one sitting, I just couldn’t
put it down. Ann Tatlock has a special
way of telling a story, she’s a genius and I’m looking forward to reading more
of her work.
**Special thanks to Bethany House for the preview
copy!**
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