Ann Tatlock

Dear Readers,

If you are looking for a gentle story that has a powerful story to tell, try anything by Ann Tatlock.  She faces issues head on, but while gently nudging her characters to decisions that may not always be the easiest, but it is where they need to go.

Traveler's Gift is no different.  Jane has loved Seth since they were in school together.  They became engaged and he was sent to Iraq with his National Guard unit.  Jane's only prayer is that he will return to her soon and they can start their life together. 

Seth does return, but only after a sniper's rifle take away any chance of a normal life.  He is paralyzed from the neck down.   He thinks his life is over and that he has no chance at happiness now.    Jane sees it differently and is determined to prove her love to Seth and her willingness to make their life together work in spite of this new obstacle. 

What would you do if this happened to you?   Is it an easy answer for you?  Do you stay or do you run the other direction?  Jane receives lots and lots of advice from several different sources.   Some try to tell her what to do and some just try to help her make a decision on her own, by pointing out all the challenges she would face.  I honestly couldn’t answer the question for myself.  One of the conversations points out that the answer maybe be different when you are engaged or if you were married.  I thought that was an interesting point to the story.  Either way I really don’t think there is a right or wrong answer here.  I can’t of course tell you what happens as that would give the whole story away, but I found this entire book fascinating for the thoughts and questions it raised. 

Here is a small side note, not long ago I had a conversation with someone about something close to this.  This person is engaged and said that they would not stay if they were not married.  I will tell you straight out, that answer really bothered me.   Our conversation at the time did not involve a person who was paralyzed, but it was an illness.   So some things were different, but I did find it a bit ironic that I had just talked to someone about this. 

Happy Reading

P.S. This book is available at Baker Book House or online by request at bakerbookstore.com