Jonathan Beecher, a middle-aged widower and small-town store owner, has
never asked for much. But lately, all too much is being asked of him.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor plunges America into World War II and deeply
fractures Jonathan's own family. His eldest son, a civilian contractor,
is trapped on a Japanese-occupied island in the Pacific. Jonathan's
feckless younger son ignores his father's pleas to stay home and joins
the army. And his bright, devoted daughter, who Jonathan hoped would go
to college, elopes with a brutally abusive man instead.
Jonathan has always met adversity with quiet faith, but as his emotional
and financial losses accumulate, so do his doubts. In the midst of his
pain, Sarah, a widow herself, emerges as a kind, compelling friend.
Powerfully drawn to Sarah, Jonathan struggles to remain true to his late
wife.
James D. Shipman's tender, wise novel examines the paradox of human
suffering: how irrevocable loss, if we are willing to let it, begets
spiritual gain.