Saturday 5 November 2011

Book Review: The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy

About the Book: To save her husband and son, Audrey Bofinger must rescue her enemy.

The Bofinger family has lost their church ministry in a scandal exposed by Officer Jack Mansfield. Hoping to heal and to restore their reputation, Audrey, Geoff, and their son Ed take over a failing bakery in the small community.

Driving to the bakery one morning, blinded by fog, Audrey hits a motor scooter owned by Jack’s wife, Julie. The mangled scooter is crushed and bloody. But Julie is nowhere to be found. Her disappearance coincides with a sudden illness that nearly cripples Audrey.

Jack believes the Bofingers have hurt Julie to take revenge on him, but the evidence dries up and her trail goes cold. At a breaking point, Jack takes the tiny bakery and its patrons hostage, issuing only one demand: Audrey has six hours to return Julie to him, or lose Geoff and Ed forever.

With only an excruciating and intuitive gift, an ex-con, and Julie’s estranged daughter to help search for clues, Audrey starts the search of her life for a woman who has vanished like the fog.

My Thoughts: I had mixed feelings about this book. Overall, I really liked the storyline and how all the different plots intertwined to make a riveting story.

I liked how the scandal is threaded throughout the book, without the details of it having to be revealed too soon.

The mystery of Julie's disappearance, the unknown scandal, the gradually revealed story of Dianne, an ex-convict recently released from prison and the cynical opinions of Jack & Julie's estranged daughter Miralee - all raise the opportunity for deep theological exploration.

The part I didn't like was Audrey's supernatural but unsettling ability to literally feel another's pain. I did like how God led her to help different people, but it was just a bit too weird for my taste.


Thank you to Stephanie and Amy from Litfuse Publicity for organizing this tour and providing me with my complimentary review copy.

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