This book captured my interest quickly with the opening scene that captures the profound loss felt by Ethan Marshall following the funeral for his wife. He is a criminal defense attorney and the father of two children but cannot envision a life with Sarah no longer in it.

It is by pure chance that he is saved by his daughter. When Ethan camps with his son, he receives a call from his past who is now seeking help. Ethan can’t deny it—he feels, as he has for a long time—that he owes him.

The characters are well developed and easy to lend a sympathetic investment. The writing style is unique with many quotables:

I enjoyed the court scenes and the crash course in the truth of the homeless. A real lesson learned and there are religious overtones. On the whole, a remarkable narrative and satisfying conclusion. 4.5 stars

A very enjoyable and moving story about a successful attorney who loses the love of his life unexpectedly and how he copes with this life and finds a way to put meaning back into his life, accumulating other "strays" along the way. A few times, just before it began to stray into the metaphysical or religious, it reeled itself back in and kept everything logical and compelling. I had only a few quibbles about the storyline where it seemed like the characters' reactions were less extreme than I thought they might have been in real life, but it did not detract from the story. I enjoyed the discussion/analysis of the Grapes of Wrath (the dead wife/teacher's favorite book and the parallel's drawn. There were many things in the book that were truly thought provoking and will stick with you for a long time. Getting up there in years myself, I could identify with many of the themes in the book more than some.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to my peers. It would also be interesting reading for some students. I said probably not my own students only because of the type student I generally teach (at the university level) rather than any reflection on the book.