The Face of the Earth hits close to home for me. The book starts out with us waiting to meet Jill who is on her way home from a teaching conference. When she doesn’t arrive, her husband Mitchell starts the painful search for her. My husband and I both travel for work sometimes and I always feel anxious until we are together again.  It’s too easy to take for granted that we’ll wake up in the morning, that we’ll see each other before bed at night.  The Face of the Earth reminded me to say those “I love you’s” when I have the opportunity.

So back to the story.  When the days go by and Jill doesn’t return, Mitchell starts to grow closer to his wife’s friend Shelley. They are drawn to each other but they each believe that it would be a betrayal to act on their chemistry.  It’s a Christian book so the purity of their relationship is made clear.  Still, sometimes less is more.  You know those movies where the tension is even greater because of what they AREN’T doing?  That’s how this was.  By the middle of the story I wasn’t sure if I even wanted Jill to return home.  I guess that is how Mitchell and Shelley felt too. It was hard to acknowledge that feeling, since it kind of felt like I was taking sides.   The Face of the Earth made me appreciate Mitchell’s loyalty and fidelity to his wife.  My husband has that virtue and I’m so grateful to know that I never have to worry about a wandering eye from him.  The Face of the Earth is a very believable, heartfelt work of fiction that reaches deep into a woman’s soul.  What will happen when we’re gone?  In my case, I hope that my husband would know that I want him to be happy and that he has my blessing to move on if circumstances work out for him.

I participated in the book tour for The Face of the Earth.  I received a copy of this book to review.  The opinions shared in this post are 100% mine.