Christa Parrish's "Still Life" is a beautiful read!

Katherine Cramer is supposed to fly home to her husband and family, but her desire to have one more night with the man she's having an affair with leads her to give up her seat on their over-booked plane to world-famous photographer, Julian. When a tragic plane crash ensues, Katherine is left with guilt that she survived only because she was indulging in the forbidden. Julian's wife, Adah, finds herself adrift in the face of his loss, still trying to navigate a strange world she's only just been introduced to. Until marrying Julian, she was living in a fringe religious sect with her family, cut off from the ways of the world. In the face of pain and loss, both Katherine and Adah find themselves searching for meaning and for a way to move forward when the future seems so unclear.

"Still Life" is a beautifully written novel that surprised me at every turn, while gently nudging me towards the truth of what Jesus has done for each of us in offering us new hope for our lives. The characters portrayed in the pages of this book are truly like no other, as readers meet people who are human, people who've been abused, people who have found unexpected hope in the actions of Julian, who has sought to be the hands and feet of Christ. I loved the contrasts present in this book, as readers can witness what happens to a marriage when God is nowhere to be found, or can peer into the lives of those caught in a sect where God is only known as someone who is harsh and judgmental and devoid of grace. I often lament that character-driven plots can move too slowly to keep my attention - but this is not one of those books! The uniqueness of the characters, and the different perspectives used in the story, kept the pace flowing along, and I simply didn't want to put the book down! Christa Parrish has written some wonderfully unique stories, and I think this is one of my favourites so far.

I greatly enjoyed "Still Life" and I wish there were another story in the works that would allow us readers to connect with these characters again! I award this novel 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Book has been provided courtesy of the publisher, Thomas Nelson, and the Booklook program, for the purposes of this unbiased review.

about the author...

Christa Parrish is the author of five novels, including the 2009 ECPA Book of the Year Watch Over Me and the Christy Award-winning Stones for Bread. She lives in upstate New York with her husband, writer and pastor Chris Coppernoll. They have four children in their blended family.

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Still Life