About the Book
Book: The Joy of Falling
Author: Lindsay Harrel
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Release Date: April 14, 2020
Eva and Angela must learn to live again. One step at a time.
It has been fifteen months since Eva and Angela lost their thrill-seeking husbands in a scuba diving accident. Both women are trying to navigate their way through the grief, but neither one is making much progress. Angela is barely making ends meet, angry at her husband for leaving her to raise three children on her own. Meanwhile, Eva is stuck, unable to move forward after losing the love of her life and her source of inspiration.
But then Eva gets a life-changing phone call. Before Brent and Wes died, they had signed up for a race of a lifetime—an ultra-marathon in beautiful New Zealand. Eva begs Angela to run the race with her in their husbands’ place, and Angela finally agrees, hoping to finally understand her husband’s choices.
Training is exhausting, and the race is even more demanding. Their journey grows more complicated by the presence of two men—Marc is Brent’s best friend who is running the race with Eva and Angela, and Simon King is a writer who is covering their inspiring story. With every step, Eva and Angela must ask themselves questions that they haven’t had the courage to ask before. As the women literally put one foot in front of the other, they wonder: Is it possible to find their way forward in hope?
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My Thoughts
How do I describe something so sweet and bitter at the same time…?
This is my first time reading a book by Lindsay Harrel and wow what a book it was. The Joy of Falling was exactly what the name implies. It’s a book about people experiencing the joys and sorrows that come with aligning your life with someone else’s and learning who you are in the process. The main characters Eva and Angela, go through so much growth both mentally and physically, while learning about what joy truly means.
“Because joy isn’t dependent on you or even the good things in life, like a wonderful husband. It’s dependent on God, and on you being reconciled with Him. It’s rooted in a deep knowing that no matter what happens in this life, you have someone you can hold on to even when you are drowning”.
Overall, I would say that this book had some awesome thought-provoking layers that I am still processing. I loved the setting of this book as well (I mean who wouldn’t want to go to New Zealand?). From the different perspectives on marriage to the mental push of getting through an Ultra- Marathon I fell in love with these characters and I learned from them. That is what I think makes this book special. It’s a book that most people can relate to in one form or another, a book that you can learn from, and a book that inspires to you find the Joy that God so readily provides. This book showed me that I need to be more intentional in my life and less dependent on what other people think. I need to choose Joy.
I highly recommend reading this book. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars for the great characters, the storyline, and for the amazing journey of finding Joy.
I am looking forward to reading more books by Lindsay Harrel, only question I have is: is the Ultra-Marathon in New Zealand real?
*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest feedback. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.
About the Author
Lindsay Harrel is a lifelong book nerd who lives in Arizona with her young family and two golden retrievers in serious need of training. She’s held a variety of writing and editing jobs over the years and now juggles stay-at-home mommyhood with writing novels. When she’s not writing or chasing after her children, Lindsay enjoys making a fool of herself at Zumba, curling up with anything by Jane Austen, and savoring sour candy one piece at a time. Connect with her at LindsayHarrel.com.
Click Here to read the first four chapters.
Blog Stops
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Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, April 18
Through the Fire Blogs, April 19
Remembrancy, April 19
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deb’s Book Review, April 22
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Just a Your Average reviews, April 25
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