The Final Service

A father and daughter, a secret past, and a search for redemption drive this haunting novel that "celebrates the complexities of love" (Joyce Faulkner).   Sandy Richards is a music teacher, wife, and mother living a comfortable life in a small Midwestern town. But her warm smile and easy laugh hide a heavy burden. During her childhood, she was inseparable from her larger-than-life father, a World War II hero she adored. Sandy followed him everywhere, hung on his every word, and loved him with all her heart. Until, for reasons Sandy never understood, their relationship shattered—left broken to the day he died.   With grief, regret, and anger, Sandy sorts through her father's belongings to learn what went wrong, and to deal with all the unresolved pain of the past. Then, as if by providence, a stranger enters Sandy life. And everything changes once more.   Exploring the forces in nature that are more powerful than ourselves, The Final Service is "a compelling and endearing" novel about the need for forgiveness and to forgive, and to embrace what matters most in life while it's still within reach (James Riordan, New York Times–bestselling author).