A novel is on my nightstand again this month, and I can’t wait to dig in. It’s Still Life by Christa Parrish. It’s the story of two very different women–one raised in a fringe religious sect, one who’s wandering through an unhappy marriage. They encounter each other when the second woman gives up her seat on a plane to the first
woman’s husband (who took her out of the sect)… and the plane crashes, leaving no survivors.
I’ve never met Christa in person, but we have a mutual friend in Virelle Kidder, and for a time we were all in the same online writing critique group. Christa’s won a Christy award for her writing, and one of her earlier books, Watch Over Me (set in the county where my father grew up and including a passing reference to my family’s name), was named the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s 2009 book of the year. Christa’s style and tone set her apart from other Christian novelists; her characters have real flaws as they struggle toward wholeness in the Lord. If you haven’t read one of her novels, give her a try. You’ll be glad you did.
What’s on your nightstand?
