The Flipside

Recently I read and reviewed "Johnny's War" which told the story of an severely injured vet through the eyes of the vet.  "Travelers Rest" by Ann Tatlock is the flipside of the "Johnny's" novel.  It tells the story of a severely injured vet through the eyes of the girlfriend.  Only in "Travelers" the girl doesn't leave him, she sticks around.  "Travelers Rest" tell the story of Jane, who is engaged to be married to Seth.  He has returned from Iraq as a quadriplegic.  He wants her to leave, he wants to die.  She stays.  Interestingly, I kept comparing the two books.  Where one was angry and hard to read, the other was sad and hopeful.  Having read, "Johnny's" I never truly hoped for Seth's recovery.  I didn't feel sad at the end so much as I felt relief.  This is a really good book; not sure how I would have felt about it had I not read the other first, but the two together make for a very interesting experience.  I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers.