Review: Where the River Ends

I've always enjoyed reading.  I can remember one of the more horrible punishments I would face as a child was being grounded from reading.  (Yeah, I've also always been super cool.)  Normally I breeze through fiction books quickly without much after thought.  I enjoy them, but a week later I wouldn't be able to tell you many details about the characters and I certainly wouldn't still be thinking about the story.  But several years ago I discovered Charles Martin.  He writes novels with such depth and description that you can't help but become completely engrossed in the book.  When I finish a novel of his I'm left wanting to know more about the character and thinking about their life.

Where the River Ends is like his previous stories in that way.  It's a story of love and loss.  The book takes you on an incredible journey that Doss and Abbie Michaels make in the face of her terminal illness.  Through a series of flashbacks you read of their unlikely courtship and the early stages of her disease.  After battling her illness for many years, Abbie makes a list of ten things she wants to do before she dies.  Doss sets out to make those wishes come true on a 130 mile canoe trip down the St. Marys River.

Like most of his books, I do recommend reading this one in the privacy of your own home with a box of tissues.  (Unless you enjoy crying in front of perfect strangers, then by all means, take it on an airplane like I did.)  This story isn't just another sad tale though.  It's also uplifting.  When you read the lengths this couple went to for each other, you will be inspired to spend time with the one you love most.  There are few authors who can move me the way Charles Martin can and Where the River Ends is one more unforgettable story of healing and love.

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