Cynthia Ruchti

Dear Readers,

I had a review almost completely written about this book.  I didn't like it because it didn't seem to do the book justice.  Cynthia Ruchti writes an interesting story in They Almost Always Come Home.  It isn't your normal story of a husband that goes missing and the wife is moving heaven and earth to find him.  It isn't even a typical storyline of a husband who had a second life that his wife and family didn't know about. 

Libby is waiting for Greg to return home after his first solo trek into the wilderness.  He has gone many time with others, but he wanted to go by himself this time.  Libby isn't sure how she feels about his not being home on time.  She wonders if it is normal for a wife to start planning a funeral as soon as he doesn't come home.  She would never dream that he was having an affair, but maybe he didn't want to come home. 

To say that they are having problems with their marriage is a understatement.  They lost touch with each other years ago when tragedy struck their family.  They can't seem to find each other back and neither one seems to want to make the effort.  So when Greg is listed as missing Libby just isn't sure how she feels about it.

This was such a different look at this storyline.  So often this type of story is about a wife's grief and loss, but this time, what if a wife isn't grieving that he is gone?  What is she was going to leave him and just hadn't gotten around to it yet?  What if she was more upset that he beat her to the punch than she is about his going missing?  

This book isn't the regular story of a husband and wife deciding to work through their differences and (happily) refocusing on their marriage.  This is a couple who have taken a couple of huge blows to their relationship and have no idea how to find their way back.  They are tired of struggling and are just done with it all.  

It is a good reminder to us all that the biggest casualty in a stressful family situation is actually marriages.  People survive things, but marriages don't always.  We need to remember that so we are willing to walk alongside the couples and help them and their marriages.  

Happy Reading