True Riches

This Is Where It Ends by Cindy K Sproles is a beautiful Christian historical novel that will wash over you like a river, cleansing you as you read, and leaving you feeling peaceful.

This is a love story, not a conventional one, but a love story nonetheless. It surrounds Minerva, a ninety four year old woman who has missed out on love her whole life. Only now, as she nears the end, does she find a love that fulfills as the arms wrap around her. This is a love that reaches beyond the pages to envelop the reader. This is a beautiful love that time will not destroy.

We also see the love of a faithful dog. He guards. He protects. He mourns.

All her life Minerva has wanted a family. We learn that “kindness, caring, love makes a family. You don’t have to be blood to be the perfect fit.” Family look out for each other.

Secrets, burdens and guilt weigh heavy. We witness a soul that has been burdened pass this heavy load onto another, so it is carried beyond the grave. The reader’s heart breaks for a character when the secrets are unearthed and she realizes that her marriage was a sham and a lie. She has never felt ‘good enough’ and this has saddened her.

There is the theme of true riches. “There ain’t a soul alive that’s found their happiness in the almighty dollar… The real prize, is found in the folks they befriend.” We see the ugliness that abounds in those who chase after money, in comparison with those who realise true riches are found in beating hearts. The legacies that we leave behind are so much more than gold. Our legacies are our love. We need to distinguish between what is temporal and what is eternal. “Finally letting go of what is temporal and reachin for what was eternal.” Reach for the arms of God. “Is it too late to believe in eternity?” No. While we are still breathing, there is still time to choose God.

A character is so in tune with God that prayers are as easy as breathing. Her prayers are out loud conversations with God. “I learned years ago to listen when the Almighty nudged.”

A character longs for the Lord to take her home – but while there is still breath in our bodies, there may still be things for us to do here on earth.

This is a serenely beautiful book. All the action is seen through the eyes of ninety four year old Minerva in 1902. It is written in the first person. Cindy K Sproles ‘shows’ us the landscape with her words, and she shows us the good heart of Minerva. I never wanted this book to end – but as with all good things, it did come to an end. I now feel lost without Minerva, who feels more like a dear friend than a character in a book.

This Is Where It Ends is stunningly and serenely beautiful.

I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

JULIA WILSON