Sometimes a Light Surprises

Christy Award–winning evangelical Christian author Turner offers fans a bittersweet introspective tale of a widower's internal journey through grief. Ben Buckley lost his wife, Chloe, years earlier, but has never gotten over the loss. Ben lives each day looking back, recalling his wife's faith and his resentment of it, and now regretting his callousness toward it. Ben, who owns Upstate Home and Garden Bazaar, pesters his assistant, Caroline, with quirky sayings and phrases that leave her both dismayed and baffled. In turn, Caroline puzzles over Ben's wife's death while attempting to make sense of her own life. Enter Kelly Kovatch, 20-year-old daughter of the deceased Chloe's friend, whom Ben despises. Against all reason, Ben hires the girl and alternately shuns or seeks her advice as he attempts to rebuild severely damaged relationships with his own adult children. Turner's work is tedious at many points; still, her loyal fans will continue to expect with eagerness her next novel despite the sluggish pace of this one. (May)