A Fragile Hope


I was intrigued by the premise of Cynthia Ruchti's new novel, A Fragile Hope. It's about a marriage expert whose life is blown apart by his wife's sudden apparent betrayal and the following aftermath and fallout. The back cover says:

"Josiah Chamberlain's life's work revolves around repairing other people's marriages. When his own is threatened by his wife's unexplained distance, and then threatened further when she's unexpectedly plunged into an unending fog, Josiah finds his expertise, quick wit and clever quips are no match for a relationship that is clearly broken.

Feeling betrayed, confused, and ill-equipped for a crisis this crippling, he reexamines everything he knows about the fragility of hope and the strength of his faith and love. Love seems to have failed him. Will what’s left of his faith fail him, too? Or will it be the one thing that holds him together and sears through the impenetrable wall that separates them?"

It sounded like a great premise and started off pretty well, but this was a super frustrating read for me. On one hand, it was a page turner and I read it in less than 24 hours. On the other hand, I was so frustrated and annoyed by the main character, Josiah, that I had trouble not throwing the book across the room. He was so arrogant and self absorbed, and I couldn't believe how unwilling he was to give Karin any sort of benefit of the doubt. It was so frustrating that he absolutely insisted on believing that the baby wasn't his and wouldn't even entertain the thought that she might be. I was also really annoyed by his lack of finding out what was going on with his wife's medical conditions, updating his family and friends, not having the church family or friends come in and visit, etc. It was so bizarre. However, this was a very captivating story and the writing style was great. Cynthia knows how to plot and write a good story, and it was heart wrenching at times. I just wish more questions were answered, more plot holes were filled in, and that we had gotten to hear more from Karin who was defenseless and unable to defend herself. I recommend this read for anyone who enjoys a good drama with redeeming Christian values sprinkled throughout.

I received a copy of this book from Litfuse in order to provide an honest and unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

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