Life After by Katie Ganshert

From the publisher:
Snow whirls around an elevated train platform in Chicago. A distracted woman boards the train, takes her seat, and moments later a fiery explosion rips through the frigid air, tearing the car apart in a horrific attack on the city’s transit system. One life is spared. Twenty-two are lost.
 
A year later, Autumn Manning can’t remember the day of the bombing and she is tormented by grief—by guilt. Twelve months of the question constantly echoing. Why? Why? Why? Searching for answers, she haunts the lives of the victims, unable to rest. 
 
Paul Elliott lost his wife in the train bombing and wants to let the dead rest in peace, undisturbed and unable to cause more pain for his loved ones. He wants normalcy for his twelve-year-old daughter and young son, to see them move beyond the heartbreak. But when the Elliotts and Autumn are unexpectedly forced together, he fears she’ll bring more wreckage in her wake.
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This book was deeper and richer than I had expected. And I had big expectations going into this book.  In a world where we give pat answers to really difficult and painful situations this book lets us wrestle in the midst of the turmoil and see all that is there to discover--both the pain and beauty and even sometimes, answers.  

Ganshert writes Autumn and Paul both with equal skill and character development.  I loved the secondary characters and how they added to the story's dimensions.  Sometimes in Christian fiction the story is all about the romance (and those are still fun to read!) but this book is so much more than a light read.  Autumn's journey and Paul's journey will probably not be exactly your story, but the questions they ask and the emotions they feel will resonate with you. 

 I found that after reading this book I had to process it.  To me, that's an excellent book.  To have to sit with a book and its story and meaning after the book has finished is what makes the difference between a good book and a great book.  

I highly recommend this book to others.

I received this book from the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.