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Friday, July 13, 2012

Review: The Shadow of Your Smile


About the Book:
A beautiful blanket of snow may cover the quaint town of Deep Haven each winter, but it can’t quite hide the wreckage of Noelle and Eli Hueston’s marriage. After twenty-five years, they’re contemplating divorce . . . just as soon as their youngest son graduates from high school. But then an accident erases part of Noelle's memory. Though her other injuries are minor, she doesn’t remember Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. What’s more, Noelle is shocked that her life has turned out nothing like she dreamed it would. As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-heartwarming results. But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember? Will their secrets destroy them . . . or has erasing the past given them a chance for a future?

My Comments:
Given the choice today, would you marry your spouse all over again?  Put another way, if you couldn't remember any of your history with your spouse, would you love the person she/he is today?  That's what faced Noelle and Eli, residents of the small Minnesota town of Deep Haven.  Noelle is in an accident and wakes up thinking it is twenty-five years ago.  She does not know (and at first, doesn't like) her husband, or her kids--or anyone else in town.  She doesn't remember the problems she and her husband were having or where she was at the time of the accident.  We follow her and her husband as they become reacquainted, and as they decide the path their lives should take in the future.

While not a Catholic book, it is a Christian novel that stresses the sanctity of marriage and its sacramental nature (even if it doesn't call it sacramental).  It points out that we need to open and vulnerable to our spouses in much the way we need to be open and vulnerable to God.  While not a preachy book, it is probably too religious if you don't like religious books.

Besides the story of Noelle and Eli, this is also the story of their son and the woman in his life.  Susan May Warren does a good job of showing us a relationship with "sparks" but also of showing us why these two like each other (and not just because one thinks the other is "hot").  

I'd like to thank the  publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  B+
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