When I reviewed nationally published Christian author Karen Kingsbury’s “Like Dandelion Dust,” I said I would be hunting down more books by her. Well, I did, and while I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as I did “Dandelion,” I liked it quite a bit, so much that I was up until 3 a.m. finishing it.
As you may have guessed from the title, “One Tuesday Morning,” this book is about the 9/11 bombings. Jake Bryan is a firefighter who is deeply in love with his wife, his daughter, and with the gospel. He’s concerned because his wife Jamie shows no interest in God or in having religion in her life at all, although she supports him as he teaches their daughter about Christ. He’s dedicated to his job and goes into each fire fearlessly, unafraid for his own sake, because he believes in a hereafter, but he fears leaving his wife and daughter behind.
Eric Michaels is a businessman first, a husband and father last. When he and his wife experienced a stillborn with their first child, it broke Eric’s heart and he turned his back on God and all forms of worship, as well as his family. Laura, his wife, is a believer, as is Eric’s brother Clay. As the years have passed, Clay has become the strong man in Laura’s life, a friend and a confidant, while Eric has become a money provider and nothing more.
On the fateful morning of September 11th, Eric is at a meeting in the World Trade Center when the first plane hits. He’s in the opposite tower and can see the wreckage from where he is, and frantically calls his wife. She flips on the television in time to see the plane hit the second tower, and Eric’s phone line goes dead. She has to believe that he was far enough down the tower that he wasn’t struck.
Meanwhile, Jake is called out to the scene. Not hesitating at all, he and his unit climb up the staircase, heading for the upper floors where they will rescue as many people as they can, knowing they will probably not come out of it alive. He has a picture of his daughter taped inside his helmet as a talisman and a comfort.
As Eric is running down the stairs, Jake is running up them. Eric falls and hurts his ankle, and gets a hand-up from Jake. When Jake reaches down for Eric’s hand, his helmet falls off, and Eric sees the picture taped inside. Then they stare into each other’s eyes in shock – they look enough alike to be twins.
Right after Eric leaves the building, the entire structure shudders and falls, trapping Jake inside and throwing Eric under a fire truck. When Jake’s captain finds Eric, he makes the predictable mistake of thinking it’s Jake, and because Eric has amnesia, he goes along with it.
Although this segment of the plot is a little soap opera for my tastes, I thought Kingsbury handled it well as she shows us Jamie’s relief at believing Jake alive, and Laura’s grief at believing Eric dead. The subsequent events are related in a touching way, and I felt the emotions as well, squeezing out a tear or two myself.
Of course, everyone is restored to their rightful place by the end of the book, and it was handled in a very satisfactory way. There is a sequel to this novel, which tells us about Jamie’s life after losing Jake, and that will be the next Kingsbury I review.
(This book was published in 2003 by Zondervan.)
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