Book Review: Rise & Shine, Benedict Stone

When I think of infertility, I tend to think of the women who experience that trial. I don't often put myself in the shoes of a man who desperately wants to have a family including children. This book helped to remedy that as I came to greatly care for the main character and to feel his painful longing.

Benedict Stone's wife has left him. It seems all he can talk about anymore is his desire to fill their happy home with the pitter patter of little feet and the joyful squeals of small children. Sadly, it isn't the first time Benedict's been left behind. His parents left him behind to care for his younger brother when they died in a tsunami. His brother left him behind when he moved away to the United States and made it clear that he wanted no further communication between the two.

Then one day, his sixteen-year-old niece Gemma shows up on his doorstep begging for a place to stay for a while. Gemma brings her own baggage and tales of a mother who left her. Yet, she also brings the opportunity for second chances. She is determined to help Benedict mend the rifts in his life and regain his relationships with his wife and his brother.

Phaedra Patrick impressed me with her debut novel, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, back in 2016. In that novel, the reader follows the main character on a quest to unravel his deceased wife's previous life by following a trail of several charms on a discovered bracelet. Each charm holds special meaning and unlocks a part of the story. In a similar way, as Benedict Stone unearths the legends behind gemstones, a variety of smaller stories, intersecting individuals, and life lessons unfold.

It was a sweet and tender read. I liked the image of the gemstones in the family tree. I loved the vulnerability of the main characters. The only thing I would change would be the character names, which seemed a bit much. Gemma Stone - really? Thankfully, it was a very engrossing read and kept me occupied during the endless waiting game associated with my husband's hernia surgery. I even found myself sharing tidbits of the story with him. I'll look forward to more from this author.

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The book I checked out from the library had a different cover from the one above, but I like this cover better than the library's one (an image of a man sitting in a weeping willow tree). Plus, this cover is vaguely reminiscent of another book I attempted recently, The Story of Arthur Truluv. Despite that story's great start (an older widow who encounters a teen girl in a graveyard and strikes up a friendship), I decided to abort the read due to content that made me uncomfortable.