Book Review: Facing the Dawn by Cynthia Ruchti

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What is this book about?

While her humanitarian husband Liam has been digging wells in Africa, Mara Jacobs has been struggling. She knows she’s supposed to feel a warm glow that her husband is nine time zones away, caring for widows and orphans. But the reality is that she is exhausted, working a demanding yet unrewarding job, trying to manage their three detention-prone kids, failing at her to-repair list, and fading like a garment left too long in the sun.

Then Liam’s three-year absence turns into something more, changing everything and plunging her into a sunless grief. As Mara struggles to find her footing, she discovers that even when hope is tenuous, faith is fragile, and the future is unknown, we can be sure we are not forgotten . . . or unloved.

My review:

From the very start, I was hooked into the emotional roller coaster that Mara was living. Her emotions were raw, her feelings so utterly human, and her struggles very real. As a writer, I’m familiar with the point in a story considered the “Dark night of the soul”, usually toward the end. This story had a brilliantly written one but it caught me off guard since it happened very early. The author took Mara’s heart out, tore it into pieces and almost obliterated it. My heart went along for the ride. As I turned the pages praying for restoration, the message of hope with God slowly put the pieces back together. Wonderful read.

What I enjoyed most about this book:

Page turning hope and restoration

What I didn’t like about this book:

Tore my heart out and stomped on it

Would I recommend this book to others? Definitely. Relatable characters, deep inspirational thread, and a spectrum of emotion. This is a standalone story.

Where can I learn more about this author and their books?

Cynthia Ruchti, author website

-Loraine Nunley

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