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Reviewed by Jennifer Senick for Readers' Favorite
What if the hardest moments in life are leading somewhere we can't see yet? In What If? A Story of Hope by Samuel Grace, Sarah and Mark Grayson live on a farm in the small town of Willow Creek, Kansas. After years of hoping for a child despite Sarah's slim chance of becoming pregnant, they receive the news they have prayed for. She’s finally pregnant. Their daughter, Nadine, is born on Christmas Day. Her name fittingly means "hope." She grows up in a close family and experiences loss while she is still young. What happens to her stays with her and helps shape her life. The novel moves forward through different stages of Nadine’s journey, showing the decisions she has to make and the ways her faith is challenged. Real events from each time period are also woven into the story. No matter what she faces, though, hope keeps coming back. Will Nadine still believe that miracles are possible when her future turns out very differently from what she expected?
The cover of What If? by Samuel Grace caught my attention right away. After finishing the book, I have one word to describe it: amazing. I appreciated that it moved through the years because I got to see Nadine grow up and watch the world change around her. I also found the real events, like the AIDS epidemic, interesting since I hadn’t given those types of things much thought in a long time. The messages that “miracles happen every day” and “everything happens for a reason” are woven throughout. There are some difficult parts, but there is always hope. I was so happy that Sarah was able to receive the one thing she wanted so badly after being told the odds were against her. Some of Nadine’s experiences also reminded me that something frightening or painful in the moment can sometimes turn out to be a blessing. Anyone looking for faith-based fiction about family, loss, purpose, and second chances should pick this one up. Christopher Reeve said, "Once you choose hope, anything's possible." I couldn't think of a better quote for this book.
