They Almost Always Come Home - Cynthia Ruchti

As far as a random find, pulled off the shelf at our local public library, this book kept me interested and at times was very hard to put down. This book brings up challenging themes, such as controversy on divorce and the difficulties of an unhappy marriage.

Taking a very unique round-about path, this book starts off with a woman who is unhappy with her marriage, which has fallen apart after the death of their daughter, and has reached a point where she is considering leaving her husband. Then, her husband goes off on canoe trip in the Canadian wilderness and fails to return home as planned. Amid doubts that that he has simply left her before she could leave him, eventually evidence, like his stolen car, begins to mount that this was not the case.

Crafting a soul-searching, personal, and often mysterious novel, Ruchti does a great job making believable characters. Our main character, Libby, gets incredible support from her best friends and father-in-law, and all three decide to embark on a wilderness search to try and find her missing husband, Greg, as they feel the help they're getting from law enforcement is not enough. Comic relief is close by as two city girls attempt to co-exist in nature alongside a gruff-outdoor man with an enlarged prostate:)

These characters are extremely truthful both in thought and outward action as we come along side them on their journey. Ruchti does a wonderful job portraying the weakness and strengths which co-exist in all of us and shape who we are. I highly recommend this for a rainy-day book. It's an easy read which kept me engaged throughout and guessing up to the very end.