Lucy and Charlie Tuttle agree on
one thing: they’re committed to each other for life. Trouble is, neither of
them expected life to look like this. While Charlie retired early, Lucy is
devoted to a long-term career…until the day she has no choice.
Forced to retire from her
position as music educator in a small Midwestern K-8 school, Lucy can only
watch helplessly as the program her father started years ago disintegrates
before her eyes. As the music fades and a chasm separates her from the passion
of her heart, Lucy wonders if her faith’s song has gone silent, too. The
musical score of her life seems to be missing all the notes.
When a simple misstep threatens
to silence Lucy forever, a young boy and his soundless mother change the way
she sees—and hears—everything.
Song of Silence is Cynthia
Ruchti’s most recent stand-alone novel, but isn’t the first book I have ever
read by her. I really, really loved her Christmas novella, An Endless Christmas, so I had a feeling I would really enjoy this
one. What I didn’t expect was that I would love this novel so completely. I laughed,
I cried, and I fell completely in love with the Tuttles, and I’m already dying
to read this book again. There are no words to describe how deeply this story
touched my heart, and I applaud Cynthia heartily for this masterpiece of
literature. I’m honestly not sure I could’ve loved this novel any more, but I’ll
find out once I read it again sometime in the near future.
There are
so many elements to this story that make it as wonderful as it is. Lucy Tuttle
is one of those elements all by herself. The way that she reacts when the
school cuts her father’s music program is understandable, but no one really
comprehends her pain, or why she can’t seem to get over it no matter what she
tries. One of my favorite parts about the ending is exactly how her silence is
broken. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but I love that it isn’t any one
thing that makes her “better” because that’s how life works. When we feel like
we’re drowning and there’s no way out, ultimately it’s the Lord who saves us,
but He uses a multitude of things, often in a row or even all at once, to bring
us the healing that we need.
There are
so many other words that can describe all that I loved about this book without
spoiling it for anyone. Sasha. Evan. ASL. Asperger’s. Accidents. Pain. Piano.
Death. Children. I could go on and on, for the list is endless. There are so
many levels of this story that touched my heart, and for so many reasons, and
that just goes to show how talented Cynthia is and how hard she must have
worked on this novel. It twists and turns, and everything ties together, and I’m
just running out of words to describe how much I loved this novel.
All in
all—if you couldn’t already tell—I loved
this novel and can’t imagine giving it anything other than all five
bookshelves. Cynthia really hit it out of the park with this one, and I know it
will be one of my favorite novels of all time for years and years to come. It has
a place on my all-time favorites list, that’s for sure, and I know I will be
lending my copy out to all of my reader friends. I highly recommend it, but I would
also advise keeping a box of tissues close by when you read it, because I can’t
imagine it not touching your heart at least half as much as it touched mine.
Happy
reading!
I received a copy of this book from the Litfuse Publicity
Group in exchange for only my honest review.
To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party
page.
All credit for the italicized synopsis goes to Cynthia
Ruchti and Abingdon Press.
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