The Dance

Readers will find a unique blend of Walsh’s signature storytelling (The Reunion) and Smalley’s marriage advice (The DNA of Relationships) in this first of the four-book Restoration Series. Marilyn Anderson, after 27 years of marriage, leaves her husband. “I’ve dropped hint after hint, clue after clue,” she says in her note. Jim, a successful businessman, is clueless, but, once over his anger, he begins soul-searching with help from his children and retired dance instructor Audrey Windsor. Marilyn, meanwhile, finds a job and a roommate and begins dance lessons. Throw in a well-meaning uncle, their daughter Michele’s wedding, their sons’ questions, a demanding church deacon, a dashing dance instructor, and a hurricane, and readers will definitely come away satisfied and shedding tears at the end. Mixing fiction’s emotion and nonfiction’s teaching works splendidly here. Supplemental interview material and discussion questions add depth. Walsh’s agent: Karen Solem, Spencerhill Associates. (Apr.)