“Accepting Joy” by author Todd F. Cope is the story of Andrew and Rachel, a young couple who are moving into their new home and also expecting their first child. The house they bought is in a quiet area, and their nearest neighbor is a little ways down the road. The house was built some years before and does need some modernizing, but Rachel is sure she can make it wonderful.
Andrew heads down the road to meet his new neighbor, Hank, only to be treated brusquely. He comes to find out that Hank is rumored to be a murderer, and this causes him a lot of concern, with his wife and soon-to-be child’s safety at stake. He stops in at the library, hoping to dig up some more information, and Edith, the librarian, points him to some stacks of newspapers. After a lot of digging, he finds the information he’s looking for – sure enough, Hank was accused of murder. What really happened all those years ago?
Meanwhile, Rachel is beginning to suspect that something is wrong with her baby. The doctor’s office called and wants to go over some blood work, and she’s filled with dread. What will they discover?
When all the results are in and they find that the new baby will have Downs’ Syndrome, Andrew pulls away emotionally, burying himself in the mystery of Hank and leaving Rachel to deal with the news by herself. In the end, it’s Hank who helps Andrew to realize what he’s doing and how he needs to change in order to pull the family back together.
This was a good story. The author is a nurse and spoke of the various medical procedures in a knowledgeable, yet not heavy-handed, way. However, I would have liked to see more from Andrew’s perspective about his feelings toward the baby, and I did feel that the ending was contrived. I also found much of the dialogue to be repetitive. That said, it was an enjoyable read overall.
(This book was published in 2006 by Cedar Fort.)
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