The Year of Fog

I just finished a book entitled The Year of Fog. A woman(Abby) who is engaged to a man with a little girl (Emma) is left to watch her one weekend while her fiance (Jake) goes out of town. Abby takes Emma for a walk on the beach and Emma disappears.

The book walks you through the grieving process of someone who has lost a loved one. Someone without closure or hope...but is desperately searching for either. The book had some great moments. The book is told from Abby's perspective. She blames herself for Emma's disappearance and works herself ragged to find Emma. There are obvious problems between her and Jake. A few fun characters are thrown in the mix to help   Abby grieve and process along the way.

The book went on a little too long without a resolution. Once some of the action started at the end of the book, I needed information quicker. I don't like suspense, waiting for the main character to analyze the present situation in length before you find out what happens next. I might have skipped a few pages at that point.

The end made it worth it though. I was left sad yet happy and wondering if it ended the best way. What would I have done if I were ___________ ? Would I be able to move on? Would I be able to forgive?

The book raised some great questions for me and helped me to have empathy for people who are going through missing (literally) a loved one. It helped me to see how someone without faith in Christ might handle something so hard. The book puts a little spin towards Jesus- sort of implicating His help to the main character at some points.

Sidenote: The book was pretty clean with minimal foul language and almost no detailed writings of sexual encounters... although there are quite a few in the book. The encounters are described in a realistic way very briefly but not in a romance novel gross way. The book is not written from a Christian worldview and questions faith in God in general.