Linda Nichols, At the Scent of Water

At the Scent of Water

Linda Nichols

Bethany House, Oct 2004, $12.99 (trade), 416 pp.

ISBN: 07642279297

In Asheville, North Carolina, Dr. Samuel Truelove enjoyed his work as a highly regarded heart surgeon, cherished his beloved wife Annie and treasured their daughter, but never allowed family to get in the way of surgery. When he blew his daughter's diagnosis, a wedge formed between Annie and him. Reconciliation failed as Annie finally gave up on Sam and left for her sister's home when he chose surgery over her. His idyllic life collapsed further when pride drove Sam to perform an emergency operation when he was in no condition to do so, resulting in tragedy.

Annie fled her husband to work at the Seattle Times and ultimately she obtained a job with the Los Angeles Times. She hoped to gain some solace in her work, but a headline forces her to return to the place of her greatest sorrow, her hometown where Sam, seeking redemption for his sin of pride at a clinic, has prayed everyday for five years for a second chance as he needs her now more than ever.

AT THE SCENT OF WATER is an intriguing inspirational relationship drama that stars a prideful modern day Job, who had everything, but lost it all in a series of appalling errors that cost lives and his family. The storyline is character-driven mostly by Sam, but to a degree by Annie who has given up on him, love, and in many ways God because she ponders why bad things happen to good people. Though the action is limited, readers who cherish a powerful insightful look at two lost souls seeking solace and redemption will want to read this moving tale.

Harriet Klausner