This Is Where It Ends, by Cindy K. Sproles, 2023, Revell (Baker Publishing Group)

This is where it ends. Minerva Jenkins has lead a lonely existence atop her beautiful mountain since her husband, Stately, died, some 30 years ago. Were it not for the secret she’d promised to keep for him, she might not have spent all this time fending for herself. In fact, she has never even known what the secret was.

Told from Minerva’s Point of View, the story gradually comes to light. Something she’d never wanted to realize is forced to the surface. It starts when a young reporter arrives asking questions about her past. He needs a place to stay, and she has prayed not to die alone. He’s just what she needs–someone to care for her as her health fails, who even banters with her and enjoys her company. But then there’s his friend, a nefarious character.

Their questions send her into reverie, and she must settle matters in her mind. “Things that were pushed clear to the back of my soul wiggled their way to the front.”

She’d married at fourteen, told that the two shall become one, and not wanting to become a a burden to her parents. “It would have been a disgrace to marry after sixteen and have my folks be the parents of a spinster.” That was the last time she saw them.

Stately took her away to a lovely place on a mountain. “I took in a breath, and the scent of pine filled my senses. The birds set on the branches of the oak trees, and their song was like a choir singin in harmony. Through the trees, I could see the sun slowly restin itself on the summit. There was hardly anything prettier than the yellow hue that glistened over the mountain at dusk. I rubbed my eyes, dreadin the day my sight would leave me altogether.”

The book is full of beautiful scene descriptions. Minerva loves this place, but has been ever so lonely. She loved Stately and remained faithful to him, but as the story unfolds she comes face to face with reality. As she deals with it, she forgives for her own freedom, and finds that in the end she has a circle of loving friends after all.

Sproles paints lovely word pictures, and gets the reader into the mind of Minerva. A mix of loving her home, and realizing her time is drawing nigh, guarding her territory and letting go to this stranger who has entered her life . Choosing forgiveness over resentment.

It’s a lovely story. However, it took me a long time to get through it, although only 259 pages. Minerva seemed to take forever to die as she sorted out her past.

You may like this book if you enjoy reading descriptive, slow-paced, reflective stories about the elderly. I did enjoy it myself, but have been distracted lately by several things going on in my life that made it hard to concentrate.

Get to know the author by clicking here: CindySproles.com, where you can read her blog and sign up for her newsletter.