All That We Carried

 

Back Cover

Ten years ago, sisters Olivia and Melanie Greene were on a hiking trip when their parents were in a fatal car accident.  They haven't seen each other since the funeral.  Olivia coped with the loss by plunging herself into law school, work, and a materialist view of the world - what you see is what you get, and that's all you get.  Melanie dropped out of college and developed an online life coaching business around her DIY spirituality - a little of this, a little of that, whatever makes you happy.

Now, at Melanie's insistence (and against Olivia's better judgment), they are embarking on a hike in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  In this remote wilderness they'll face their deepest fears, question their most dearly held beliefs, and begin to see that perhaps the best way forward is the one way they had never considered.

Review

All That We Carried is a moving story about two estranged sisters on a hiking trip of a lifetime.  Both broken by the tragic deaths of their parents, they've been trying to cope in their own unique ways, yearning for healing amidst the grief. Their past separated them, but ends up bringing them together as they explore the Porcupine Mountains for a chance to reestablish a sisterly connection. 

I was greatly touched by this story as it is an equally emotional and spiritual experience. As a reader peeking into these two sisters' lives, you want nothing more than to erase the hidden hurts and restore their relationship.  Melanie and Olivia are very real, very down-to-earth characters that are struggling with the circumstances of their parents' deaths and the resulting consequences of it. The only thing I would have wished to see more is a stronger resolution to their spiritual journey ending in the hope to be found in Jesus.  I also have questions about a mysterious character in the story, but perhaps the ambiguity of the individual is also part of the enthralling nature of the story.  Not all ends are tied up in a neat bow, but that is where the reader's imagination can take over.

I truly loved this beautiful story!

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.