Book Review: The Wishing Tree by Marybeth Whalen

Ivy Marshall's life has been making a slow decline recently and then suddenly within one week everything goes wrong. Her father closes the business she has been running, her husband reveals that he has been having an affair and her estranged sister gets engaged on television. Trying to get away from it all she runs back to the only home she has ever known hoping to find the way that she lost so long ago.

The Wishing Tree presents its readers with a story of second chances and forgiveness long overdue. It reminds us of the beauty of the love of God and the love of family. The story is charged with the idea that we all must seek forgiveness and in turn must give the gift of forgiveness as well.

I enjoyed this story because the setting was an all too familiar one for me, ranging from the lush mountains to the sandy beaches of North Carolina. In addition, the author brings a realistic perspective to the task of forgiving. Too often we are told to forgive and forget, but how often can we carry that out? Marriage and forgiveness work hand in hand and they are just that, work. Yet, with God's help a person can find true joy in this life.

I received a free copy of this book for review from Booksneeze.