A Place Of Community

The Secret Keepers Of The Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox is the most delightful Christian dual timeline novel that filled my soul with love.

The novel is set in present day and from 1965 working forwards. It is a story of family and love and life.

A character has been grieving her whole life for a boy who went to Vietnam and never returned. Life still kept turning and she had to learn to live again in spite of her grief. Grief never leaves us. We just need to find our way through it.

We witness the horrors of war in the lives of those who return. “How could they find normal after that? Love when they’d been baptized in hate.” Some lives buckle with PTSD and they escape through alcohol and drugs.

There is the theme of guilt. A character is drowning in it, carrying burdens that were never meant for her. “I’d become so tainted by darkness that I couldn’t feel the warmth of the sun anymore.”  It is time to let go and let God.

Sometimes we revisit the past and that is fine but we must not dwell in it. “What-ifs won’t get us anywhere… We can’t change the past. But we can choose a new tomorrow.”

There is the theme of the prodigal son. There are two siblings, one who does exactly what she wants, and the other who stays close but resents her life. Both seem to be living lives of disconnection.

The old depot grocery store is a place of community. People come for the love and care they receive as much as to buy groceries. Love lives in the old depot grocery.

Our heritage is important. We need to celebrate the past whilst simultaneously moving into the future.

I absolutely adored this story. It spoke to my heart and filled me with love.

I received a free copy via Net Galley. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

JULIA WILSON