Book Review
Vacation by JC Miller
Publisher: Booktrope
Publication Date: August 29, 2014
Format: Paperback - 254 pages
Kindle - 4588 KB
ISBN: 978-1620154809
ASIN: B00NAHR1TS
Genre: Literary Fiction
BUY THE BOOK: Vacation
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.
Book Description:
Book Excerpt:
Words had not been invented to define William’s clotted emotions. None of his pathology training, nothing he had witnessed in all his years at Northwest Hospital, nothing could have prepared him. He knew his wife was not a very big person, five-three. But there, on the table, she looked so small.
He placed his hand, first on her shoulder, and then lightly touched a fingertip to her gray-blue lips. He touched her hair. After a long moment, he pulled back the sheet. From her abdomen, thick and red, Kath’s blood had already begun to oxidize.
Yet, somehow the framework of his skeleton continued to hold his body erect. His lungs continued to respire, his heart pumped blood, as it did every day. William’s body lived on, but his spirit shut down; his tears never came.
He placed his hand, first on her shoulder, and then lightly touched a fingertip to her gray-blue lips. He touched her hair. After a long moment, he pulled back the sheet. From her abdomen, thick and red, Kath’s blood had already begun to oxidize.
Yet, somehow the framework of his skeleton continued to hold his body erect. His lungs continued to respire, his heart pumped blood, as it did every day. William’s body lived on, but his spirit shut down; his tears never came.
My Book Review:
Vacation is a wonderful story that follows a grief-stricken man's journey of self-discovery while on a English countryside walking tour.
Dr. William Koval lost his wife Kathleen three years ago when she walked into a robbery in progress at a local Seattle 7-11 store. Three years later, Dr. Koval still hasn't adjusted to life without his wife, he has tried to forget the painful past by withdrawing from the world, seeking solace through delving into his work as the head of the pathology department doing clinical research and biomedical analysis at Seattle's Northwest Hospital. When the hospital HR department informs him that he has to use his accrued vacation time or lose it, he begrudgingly agrees to take a two-week vacation that is his first vacation in ten years. He considers a staycation to complete a number of household projects, but decides to embark on an English walking tour vacation that Kathleen had planned for them before her murder. William's vacation in the English countryside will be a journey of self-discovery that will force him to confront the painful past, and open his eyes to the present world around him, so that he can move forward with his life.
Author JC Miller weaves an enjoyable story of love, loss, acceptance, forgiveness, hope, friendship, and redemption. You can't help but get drawn into Dr. Koval's journey as he learns to transition from living in the painful past, and overcome the obstacles that have prevented him from moving forward. Dr. Koval's story unfolds with emotional flashbacks to his marriage to Kathleen, interwoven with intriguing, challenging, and enlightening circumstances and events that occur while he is on the English countryside walking tour. I really enjoyed following Dr. Koval and the quirky travelers that made up the walking tour group, their adventures in the English countryside was exciting, and had a touch of drama and humor in the mix. The author's rich descriptions of the various locales of the lush green English countryside landscape easily transports the reader into the story, so that it makes you feel like you are joining in the walking tour group's adventures. As Dr. Koval's vacation ends, you can't help but smile at the outcome that comes from his journey.
Vacation is an inspirational story of one man's vacation in the English countryside, that unexpectedly turns into a journey of self-discovery that will change the way he lives his life.
RATING: 4 STARS
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