I'm systematically reading through this author's work -- having started with Stones for Bread -- so far none measure up, but I can see her progress and growth as a writer. This story about a cop who finds an abandoned baby and ends up fostering her with his wife who is unable to have children really gets into some interesting issues. Essentially at the heart of the story is a crisis of faith, but it plays out differently for each character involved. Parrish is very talented at creating complex characters that the reader cares about and weaves a complicated plot (sometimes too much heaped in) and while the ending may not be happy, it is meaningful. ( )

4 stars

Benjamin Patil, Deputy, is struggling with depression and survival guilt after serving in Afghanistan, his wife Abbi suffers from an eating disorder and guilt and their marriage isn't really alive at all when Ben finds an abandoned newborn after receiving a call about a bloody towel which contained a placenta.

Matt is a brilliant, deaf teen who needs dialysis three times living with his aunt and four cousins who have three different fathers, sleeping on the couch, there only because his aunt wants the money since his mother, a drug addict, is unable to care for him.

As Ben and Abbi foster the baby and Ben works on trying to find out who abandoned this child, Matt starts working for them in order to save money to visit his long gone father in hopes of finding a kidney donor, and their lives become intertwined. Ben and Abbi are struggling with their faith and Matt feels lost in his church despite his strong faith.

In a deftly woven novel, Parrish manages to capture the cultural difference between Abbi and her inlaws, the depth of feeling involved in each of the three POVs, and if I'd read the entire book I might have rated it higher. The audiobook reader does well with Ben Patil's POV, in part because he is also East Indian, but not so well with Matt and is very annoying with Abbi's POV. I was ready to quit reading until I started reading the book in print. ( )

LOVED THIS BOOK it had the same kind of themes as a Charles Martin book, loss, love, forgiveness, and healing with time. it did not have the lyrical quality of writing but it engaged me none the less. the characters were very real. and the healing and the time it took was very real. a great book. i could relate to them very well. ( )

LOVED THIS BOOK it had the same kind of themes as a Charles Martin book, loss, love, forgiveness, and healing with time. it did not have the lyrical quality of writing but it engaged me none the less. the characters were very real. and the healing and the time it took was very real. a great book. i could relate to them very well. ( )

LOVED THIS BOOK it had the same kind of themes as a Charles Martin book, loss, love, forgiveness, and healing with time. it did not have the lyrical quality of writing but it engaged me none the less. the characters were very real. and the healing and the time it took was very real. a great book. i could relate to them very well. ( )