How the Light Gets In

By: Jolina Petersheim

Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert

Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

From the highly acclaimed author of The Outcast and The Alliance comes an engrossing novel about marriage and motherhood, loss, and moving on.

When Ruth Neufeld's husband and father-in-law are killed working for a relief organization overseas, she travels to Wisconsin with her young daughters and mother-in-law, Mabel, to bury her husband. She hopes the Mennonite community will be a quiet place to grieve and piece together next steps.

Ruth and her family are welcomed by Elam, her husband's cousin, who invites them to stay at his cranberry farm through the harvest. Sifting through fields of berries and memories of a marriage that was broken long before her husband died, Ruth finds solace in the beauty of the land and healing through hard work and budding friendship. She also encounters the possibility of new love with Elam, whose gentle encouragement awakens hopes and dreams she thought she'd lost forever.

But an unexpected twist threatens to unseat the happy ending Ruth is about to write for herself. On the precipice of a fresh start and a new marriage, Ruth must make an impossible decision: which path to choose if her husband isn't dead after all.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2019 Jolina Petersheim (P)2019 Oasis Audio

Beautiful

Unexpected twists.
This story brought me to tears. It's beautifully written and narrated. It's a story full of heartbreak, faith, hope and redemption.
My husband and I could not turn it off in the last few chapters, and I was sad when there was nothing left to listen to.
I would recommend this to anyone.

Thought-provoking and Inspiring!

I read the hard copy first last fall. This story of grief and redemption and the sanctity of marriage had a profound impact on me. I am in the thick of motherhood like Ruth was in the story. I identified so much with her thoughts and struggles and especially the challenges that parenthood brings to what could otherwise be a healthy marriage. And then this summer I decided to listen to the audiobook version too — absolutely SO well done! The narrator perfectly captures each character and the emotions of each scene. The first time I read I was deeply engrossed and enthralled with each page turn. But then to LISTEN to it was pure enjoyment and a beautiful reminder of all the things I felt and thought the first time. READ it. LISTEN to it. You won’t regret it!

Surprising and encouraging

I did not expect this story to do much other than entertain. However I was pleasantly surprised. I found the overall message deeply touching and thought provoking. Would highly recommend.

Simply Amazing!

And unbelievable modern twist on the book of Ruth. I would recommend this book to everyone! It’s an absolutely stunning story, with an ending you will never see coming. Brilliant!!

Oh, my!

Profound and stirring, this novel moved me at every turn.

Tavia Gilbert performs this so well and with so much emotion, you can't help but be touched to your core.

I heartily recommend it.

Hold on! You’re in for a treat you can’t put down!

I’m trying to put aside my speechlessness...for the sake of you, the potential reader, so that you’ll read this book. I’ve never had a book pull me in
, so far in, that I couldn’t stop listening!! The narrator is as much to credit as the author. The narrator brought to life the words and helped spin me so far into this story. I thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of, “oh my word I didn’t expect THAT!” This truly is a must read. And don’t skip the author’s notes at the end. Such a treasure from start to finish!

Straight from Heaven!

At the beginning of this novel,
I wasn't sure if this story was for me. However, I am a big fan of Tavia Gilbert, and after the first few chapters, I was drawn in....By the final chapter, I realized that this book was meant for me to read. Thanks to this wonderful work of fiction, I am on my way to seeing my life in a different way, and my heart is beginning to heal! I am not the best at following religion, but I am a believer. In my humble opinion, a Devine force has been guiding the work of this author and as always guiding a spectacular performance by the MOST talented Tavia Gilbert.

I truly loved this book.

This book is gripping and twists in ways you can't predict. I truly loved how it reeled me in.

So good! Mind blown!

This was such a great story! It totally threw me at the end! Usually, I have a pretty good sense of what things are leading up to, but this completely caught me off guard. Breaks you in all the right ways!

I loved this book!

The story is so meaningful, heart filled, sad and loving in so many ways. Ruth was a real woman with real feelings that many of us go through. I read it at a time in my life when I needed this journey. I hope it does the same for you.